Aqua Mortis
by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves
Summary: "Master Aqua, the only way that Ventus and Terra will cease to exist will be if you no longer believe in them." "We can tell that you're never going to rest. Not until you've found them." "You're right." Prelude to Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation.
1. Path to the Sun

**Aqua Mortis**

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable _Kingdom Hearts_ elements belong to Disney/Square-Enix. Any other recognizable elements might belong to Disney or Square Enix or somebody else entirely. Who knows, right?

Hey, everybody. This story is going to serve as a little preview of a HUGE fanfiction undertaking I hope to someday make, called "Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation". Basically, this story will be set ten years after the main _Kingdom Hearts_ series, with a wholly different bunch of Keyblade wielders. My little mini-story, here, will go over some of the peripheral events of "KHNG", if you're willing to call it that, from the POV of Aqua.

_Edited for quality._

**Path to the Sun**

I still remembered the moment when I had smiled and told myself, "There's always a way."

Ten years after that, I had looked into the ocean of the dark realm, my vision obscured by tears while I said simply, "Sora."

Ten years after _that_… and I was still walking around in the emptiness. In a decade, nothing had changed. In a decade, no time had passed. Through all my hoping, I hadn't seen anybody at all.

Until just now, that is… I felt a presence enter the the world from some distance behind me. The new arrival attempted to muffle its footsteps, but I could discern its location perfectly.

I turned around slowly. "Who's there?" I called.

There was no answer, as the being attempted to get closer to me without being seen, staying huddled behind the rocks.

I ignored it. If it couldn't even succeed at keeping its presence unknown, I wasn't worried about any confrontation with it. I continued walking, waiting for the pursuer to enter an open area… or give up.

Going up a winding path, it was a few minutes before I entered a clearing in the crags, and entering the empty space I got a glimpse of the creature.

He was barely half my height, with soft blue skin and a dragonish face. Protrusions dangled all around its face, and a pair of sparkly green eyes glinted at me. It was dressed in a torn, black cape. I try not to judge by appearances, but this person, this creature, was downright ghostly.

I summoned my Keyblade and pointed it at the creature. "Who are you?" I said. "And why are you stalking me?"

It continued to approach me, without fear. "Following you is my job, Master Aqua… if you _are_ Master Aqua."

"I am," I said. "Who are _you_?"

It bowed to me. "I am Uncle Deadly, guardian of the Keyblade Graveyard."

I winced, all of my worst memories rushing back at those simple words. "Don't talk to me about that place."

"But I must, Master. You see… I have been assigned to return you to the realm of light. And I am only allowed in one world of that realm."

"The Keyblade Graveyard?" I said. I wrestled with the idea, shuddering at the horrors of that baked-dust world. "I'm _not_ going back there."

I turned around. Uncle Deadly considered for a moment, then said, "Don't you want to see the sun?"

_The sun? A real sun? One that casts actual light all across its world_… I stared back at the creature. "I… are you saying that my wanderings are over?"

"If you want," he replied. Between the two of us, he opened a Corridor of Darkness. Through the ripples, I saw the shadows of lifeless keys.

I stared at it. I was reluctant to enter one of those evil pathways… but it would get me out of here. Into the sunlight… when had I seen a sun, a true-to-life sun, before?

"I accept," I told Uncle Deadly. "Take me out of the dark."

He took my hand and led me in. The complete darkness began to envelop me, and I think I passed out at one point…

But the travel only took a matter of seconds. Soon, there was the light. A sun, a blue sky.

Keyblades everywhere, stuck in the ground. What a horrid world, I didn't want it… I didn't want…

The light was too jolting. I lost my grip on my guide, and fell onto the cracked, dry ground of the Keyblade Graveyard, my eyes closed.

"Master Aqua?" said a gentle voice.

I opened my eyes, and there was a childlike face with bright blue eyes.

"We've found you," he said. "After twenty years, we've found you."

I blinked at him. "Sora?" I said.

"No," he said. "No, my name is Skye. I'm Master Sora's student, he's training me."

As my head cleared, I saw it definitely wasn't Sora. He was much younger than Sora would have been at this point in time… he was small and slender, with pale skin. His hair was in more or less the same spiked style as Sora's, but was some blue shade, different from my blue hair… baby blue, robin's egg blue, somewhere in that area.

As he helped me to my feet, I saw his two companions. The other boy was much taller and broader, with dark skin and flaming-red hair styled in dreadlocks. His narrow eyes, surveying me eagerly, were emerald-green.

"Hey," he said, shaking my hand vigorously. "I'm Lando, I'm Master Riku's guy."

"Lando," a girl said. "A bit of respect. We're addressing one of the grandest Masters."

The girl was tall and lightly tanned, with brown eyes and long, straight black hair. Looking her in the eye, I was suddenly very aware of her heart—such a powerful light! Not pure, but strong.

"And you must be Kairi's pupil," I said.

"Yes, Master," she said, bowing. "Call me Oceana. It's an honor to meet you. I've heard all the legends… I can't wait to find out if they're all true."

"You're sweet," I said. "I'd be honored if you'd just call me Aqua."

I looked at the blue sky. It was the Badlands' sky, but it was still a sky.

"Is this real?" I said. "It's been so many years… can I really be here? Or did I fade away, like I always knew I would… do I exist anymore, did I even have a body to bring back…?"

Lando looked me over. "Objectively, I'd say, yes, you have a body. It's very nice."

"Lando!" Oceana chided again.

"What? Come on, it's Aqua. Her figure is legendary. I'm not allowed to say anything?"

"She's _Master_ Aqua," Oceana said sternly.

But I laughed anyway. It felt so nice to speak with actual people… and as I took in the appearance of the three teens, I realized that they were attired in the many zippers and buckles, the gloves and big shoes, and light scatterings of armor, characteristic of classical Keyblade wielders. Skye wore a checkered, knee-length coat with a zippered gray shirt underneath, cream-colored slacks and brown-and-black shoes. Lando wore a dusty muscle shirt and pants that flared widely at the bottom of the legs; on his right arm was an ivory gauntlet, a shard of plate mail on his left shoulder. Oceana's flowered white top had the sleeves rolled up, was only loosely buttoned and exposed her midriff. Her pants were rolled to the knees, and rather than the armored shoes of the boys, she simply wore white sandals. In her hair she wore a red flower, which was clipped into place with a silver charm shaped like the Mark of Mastery.

"Do you have Keyblades?" I whispered.

In response, they held out their hands, and each of them called their Keyblades.

Skye's was dusky red, long and broad, vastly disproportionate to his own physical stature, and ended with a double-edged blade. Lando, to my surprise, held two: they were identical, and very small to ease in the process of fighting with them both at once. They were gray and thin, their blades extremely nasty overlapping hooks. Oceana's was blue and white, like a cresting wave, and on its back it was studded with a rainbow of gems.

"…Amazing," I said. "It's good that the power goes on."

"Yes, the Keyblade is growing in popularity," said a new voice. The three teens stepped aside, paving the way for a small new Keyblade wielder to approach. Lanky and green-skinned, he had a pointed face and oddly-shaped black pupils in his eyes. Around his neck was a natural, pointed collar, and he wore a deep burgundy suit lined with white. His Keyblade was long and brown, its double-blade represented by a curved rainbow.

I sensed his heart briefly… yes! He had the Mark. I was facing one of the true Masters.

He stood at attention and looked at me. "Master," he said formally.

"Master," I replied, standing similarly. "Call me Aqua."

"Kermit the Frog," he replied, relaxing his pose. "It's good to have another Keyblade Master back where she belongs."

"But there are a lot of us now?" I said, looking over at the young students.

"All across the worlds," Skye offered. "People say that the reason there are so many of us, is we're here to usher in a new era of light."

"_Some_ people," Lando corrected quietly. "Others think that the rise of the Keyblade is an omen that something bad is gonna happen."

That statement hung over us for a time. Was trouble brewing yet again? Kermit turned to Uncle Deadly, still standing behind me. "You've done a good thing here, Deadly," he said. "I'm not going to say anything for certain, but someday, you might be allowed to return to your old position at Muppet Towers."

The phantom bowed. "Thank you, Master."

Kermit nodded, then tapped my hand. "Can we talk, Master to Master?" he said.

"Sure," I said, stepping away with him. I heard Skye, Lando, and Oceana eagerly begin talking amongst themselves.

"See, it's true what they said," Kermit told me quietly. "The worlds are in a state that hasn't been seen since Masters Eraqus, Yen Sid, and Xehanort were only children. Keyblade wielders are almost mainstream now, there's a very formal process for training. There are academies on several worlds. Ask anyone on the streets of a given world, they'll know a Keyblade when they see it. There are hundreds of guardians of the light now."

"That's good, right?" I said.

"It might be," Kermit replied. "But anyone can be corrupted by an excess of darkness, and a corrupted Keyblade wielder is the most dangerous thing of all. I'm sure I don't need to tell _you_."

"No," I said. "Certainly not…" Darkness in anyone's hands chilled me to the bone… and amongst the Keyblades, it could be downright horrifying. "So, what the child Lando said…? About an omen?"

"Nobody really knows," Kermit said. "But I am sure of something. These three…" He pointed his Keyblade toward the trio. They were oblivious, still chatting animatedly.

"They're special," I said. "I can feel it."

"I've seen them in combat," Kermit said. "They are extraordinary, especially Skye—though you'd expect that from the sole student of Master Sora. But putting the three of them together… it's like nothing I've ever seen."

"Really?" I said. "Well, it's obvious they're really good friends."

"A trinity," Kermit agreed. "Just like Sora, Riku, and Kairi… ten years ago, when I thought that having a Keyblade made me completely alone." He looked away sadly. He didn't need to tell me about aloneness either.

"And like… Ven, Terra, and me," I said, on a sudden inspiration. "Do you know what happened to my friends?"

"No," Kermit said. "They were written off as dead, long ago." He smiled up at me. "But then, so were you."

"So, there's a chance," I said. "I'm gonna go find them."

"Why, certainly," Kermit said, nodding. "But, Aqua, about the state of the worlds right now, there are priorities…"

"With all due respect, Master Kermit, my top priority will _always_ be Terra and Ventus." The conviction was flaring within my heart, the mission that had been dormant since I drifted into the dark realm.

"Yeah… sure," Kermit said. He was a Keyblade Master worth his salt; it was plain as day to him that my heart wouldn't rest. "But please take my advice, and keep an eye on these three."

I looked over at them. Lando was laughing triumphantly, his arms wrapped tightly around both Skye and Oceana.

"But they shine so bright," I said.

As Skye and Oceana made eye contact across Lando's broad shoulders, they reached across and gently touched their hands. With each of them touching the other two, a very tangible light glowed within them—call it Master's intuition.

"So bright," I said again. "They almost make me forget about my… my…"

I lost my train of thought when I noticed a tiny speck of blackness floating above the discarded keys. Tiny flickers of the dark energy were drawn from every Keyblade it passed, expanding it, making it bigger, until it hung in the air like a deep pit, becoming stronger as it moved.

The trio, far away from Kermit and I, but much closer to the black orb, noticed this anomaly. The three of them quickly produced their four Keyblades, spacing themselves around in preparation for combat.

The orb was now as wide as a man is tall, and as it passed over their heads and began to approach me, it started to take shape. The pure darkness formed itself into an empty bodysuit, laced with glowing white lines, and topped with a black glass helmet.

"No," I whispered. "By the stars, no…"

The figure dropped slowly to the ground. There was no color anymore, and the mask was decorated with an emblem instead of being straight black, but there was no mistaking it…

Is this how the Realm of Light greets me on my return? Could fate be that unkind?

"No!" I snarled. I swung Rainfell and stuck it straight to the figure's throat. "Vanitas," I sneered. "You're dead!"

He quickly vanished, and instantly was directly behind me, beating me over the head with a colorless version of his huge, terrible Keyblade, Void Gear.

"Guess again," he said smoothly.

I stood up and leveled my Keyblade at him. "Ventus destroyed you, heart and body," I declared. "Slashed you to pieces."

"Which still left me with a soul," Vanitas replied. "Pick up a book once in a while, bimbo. You can't have possibly thought I was _gone_."

"Yes, well, reading material in the Dark Margin was sparse," I said. "And I did _not_ wander around down there for twenty years to listen to you call me a bimbo!"

"I suppose not," he said, popping off his helmet and toying with it. There was no body within the suit, so he appeared to be headless. "What would you rather I called you?"

I rushed at him and aimed my Keyblade squarely at his chest. "Fire," I said simply.

He rolled out of the way, neatly replacing his helmet, and pointed his Keyblade upwards. "Thunder," he said in a sneer.

I reeled from his powerful magic, and stepped out of his reach once again.

"Your master is gone!" I said. "Ventus is… is gone," I choked out, hoping that the statement was false even as I spoke it. "What can you hope to accomplish here, abomination?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," he drawled. "But how about… the ultimate destruction of the universe?"

Black mist expanded around him, and it began to take shape into some tiny creatures…

"He can still call the Unversed?" I breathed.

The three Keyblade students came up behind me.

"What are the Unversed?" Oceana demanded.

They continued appearing, bigger Unversed, dangerous ones, Unversed that I knew and those that I hadn't ever imagined…

"He's… he's calling them," I said, my throat twisting up. "_All_ of them."

"…All?" Skye said quietly.

Vanitas rose into the air, and as what was almost certainly the thousandth Unversed came out of him, he launched into the whooping laugh I'd heard from him once before.

"Keep in touch," he said. He then dropped rapidly into the ground, vanishing entirely.

The Unversed army took a glance toward us.

My legs shook. The urge to run away couldn't be fought anymore. "Run," I said. "RUN!"

"Run like hell," Lando agreed solemnly.

The students and I turned and fled, Kermit and Uncle Deadly along with us. I could sense the hateful monsters in hot pursuit, every one of them.

I recognized a narrow fissure up ahead. It wasn't about to think it was our salvation, but maybe it would remove the advantage of the Unversed's numbers…

Near the edge, Kermit tripped, falling into the dust.

"Keep going!" he said. He rolled onto his back and pointed his Keyblade at the horde, releasing a burst of light that vaporized a few of them.

"Kermit, no!" Skye said.

Lando grabbed him by the arm. "We've gotta get out of here, man," he said.

"We can't leave—" Skye began, but froze when what seemed to be a pair of shooting stars blew past him, dancing around the Unversed that were menacing the prone Kermit, and then solidifying on his side.

I knew the man in the middle. Though he was now wearing a red outfit and carrying a golden Keyblade, I knew him.

"Mickey!" I said, delighted.

"Gosh, Aqua, it's so great to see you," he said cheerfully. "Under the circumstances," he added, eyeing the many Unversed still remaining.

Kermit stood up, and Mickey nodded to him. He then looked at his other side, to the third Keyblade wielder. Even smaller than Mickey, he had a perfectly round sea-green head and a darker, bulbous nose. Perched on top of his head was a tiny crown, and he wore a voluminous red-and-white cape.

"André!" Mickey said. "You've finally come out of hiding."

André grinned toothily, brandishing a thin gray Keyblade that resembled a desk lamp. "I owe you a whole lot, good buddy," he said.

"What finally coaxed you out of Pixar Palace?" Mickey asked.

"Your boy Skye reminded me what's really important," André said, nodding over his shoulder to Skye. He slashed at an Unversed that had come too close, then turned to Mickey and Kermit. "Are we ready?"

As the Unversed closed in, the three diminutive Keyblade Masters clanged their blades together. An enormous jet of light, laced with flickering darkness, shot out with enough force to blow back every Unversed in its path, and the power didn't cease.

"We've got to help them," Oceana said.

I halted her with my hand. "No," I said. "They're doing this so we can flee." I felt as reluctant as they did, not wanting to abandon three Masters to their possible deaths just so that I might live… could I live with that decision?

I took a single glance at the sun, and decided that, yes, I could. They were giving us the gift of escape, that I might live under sunlight once again.

The five of us took off into the fissure.

"They can handle themselves," Uncle Deadly said. "They're three Keyblade Masters of the highest power."

"Hmm," Lando said. "Easy to forget. They're so tiny, it's hard to take them seriously. Kind of like Skye," he added with a smirk.

It seemed like a harmless remark, but Skye responded with very sudden fury. "Shut up, Lando!" he roared. "Just shut up!"

When the fissure expanded into the canyon, Uncle Deadly stopped running. "I can go no farther," he said. "I am bound to the Keyblade Graveyard. Flee this world!"

Oceana nodded. "It's time."

As one, Oceana, Lando, and Skye tossed their Keyblades forward, then pounded on their own shoulders. Their full-body armor wrapped around them, and their Keyblade Gliders appeared and awaited them.

Lando's armor was an intense orange, and his Glider was in a bow configuration not unlike my own. Oceana had pale blue armor, and a surfboard-like Glider that resembled Ven's. Skye was encased in armor of lavender, and his Glider was formed into a scooter shape which allowed him to sit, like Terra's.

I did miss Ven and Terra… if no one had found them after twenty years, did I have any hope at all?

I didn't let myself think about it. I called my own Glider and hopped on, joining the three students in rising upwards.

"Master Aqua, you're not wearing armor!" Oceana said, surprised.

"I gave up my armor a long time ago," I explained. "Don't worry, I've been through twenty years of darkness. I've built up a tolerance. I can handle myself in the Lanes Between."

Oceana nodded at me from behind her mask. I and the three apprentices rose into the sky and broke the boundaries of the world.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Notes from the Author**

Well, thanks for reading… and in particular, thanks for not stopping even _after_ reading the names Skye, Oceana, and Lando, lolz. Might not be subtle, but it's not as if _Kingdom Hearts_ has ever done subtle. This is going to continue for a little while, and I hope that you hang around for a while, at least until I begin "Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation"! Of course, by no means is Aqua going to be the central character of "KHNG": that story will belong to Skye, Oceana, and Lando.

"KHNG" will begin… later. Specifically, at whatever point it is announced what new Disney content will be used in _Kingdom Hearts 3D_. Whatever they don't use, I will. Hopefully, I can begin it _before_ anybody learns what happens at the _end_ of _3D_. I don't really care what the story is, because the ten-year gap of "KHNG" means that, basically, any unresolved plotlines of the _KH_ series were resolved long ago—with the uber-notable exception that nobody ever found Terra, Ventus, and Aqua! I'm not giving up that story for anything, which is my entire reason for publishing this.

Anyway, I'm more interested in what Disney content will be fair game than what the actual plot is—although if they use Muppets or anything from Pixar, then on the one hand, that's freaking awesome, but on the other hand, I'm screwed. They probably won't, though… but I've got my plans for the Muppets in "KHNG" and I'm sticking to them. And, hey, I'll have this to prove that it was my idea first, hehe. And, well, what are the odds that they'll use _André and Wally B._? Low.

Anyway, stay tuned! I hope you enjoy the journeys of Aqua. And I hope that you'll wait around until, you know, _whenever_ to read "Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation"! Ciao.


	2. Amongst the Crystal Spheres

**Aqua Mortis**

Well, there goes my theory that allowing anonymous reviews will have some effect… ah, well. I won't let it stop me. But I need people…

_Edited for quality._

**Amongst the Crystal Spheres**

In the swirling purple of the between, I followed the students while trying to look like I wasn't. I didn't know their destination. But it was comforting… I'd had to take charge far too many times over the years…

When they angled downwards towards a world in the fringes of the Realm of Light, I followed tentatively.

Breaking the barrier, I was reminded of a saying: that no matter how many worlds you've seen, you most certainly have not seen them all.

The world had no ground, but instead consisted of hundreds of massive white spheres suspended in the blackness. Each sphere was the size of a building, and indeed most of them were lined with staircases and doors, and outside panels for walking around them, including bridges connecting one to another…

I swerved around on my glider, fascinated. The world they had led me to defied the imagination… "What is this place?" I wondered.

"It's Crystal Spheres," Skye said. "Master Sora set up this world for his students."

"Wow," I said. "It's so beautiful. And what is… oh my goodness…"

I paused in mid-air. One of the great white spheres was home to a giant stained-glass window, a triptych of three faces… the detail was painstaking…

"Ah," Lando said, his armor vanishing and his clothes expanding outward in the wind. "Noticed the tribute to you and Masters Terra and Ventus."

The images of Terra and Ven took my breath away. The likenesses were perfect. Over twenty years, I'd nearly forgotten their faces… now, seeing these ten-foot-high faces in perfect detail, all my memories of them were restored, my love for them, the burning _need_ to find them was multiplied tenfold… what, what had Lando called them?

"Masters?" I said, alarmed.

"Yeah, they were given the titles posthumously," Lando said. "Like it does _them_ any good, they're—"

Lando froze instantly as I gave him a withering look. I kept my gaze locked on him until he lowered his head. I was willing to let his shame sink in. "They're not dead," I said. "I'm going to find them."

"Of course, Master Aqua," Lando said quietly. He flew over to a concealed drawer right underneath the window, and from the drawer produced a roll of papers. "Everything that the Keyblade Masters ever knew about the three of you," he said. "All of the collected reports of Yen Sid and Mick."

"_Master_ Yen Sid and _King_ Mickey," Skye corrected pointedly.

"Yeah, yeah," Lando said, waving his hand. "Proper respect and yada-yada. I compliment you for that, all your standing in front of the King, all Your Majesty this and Your Majesty that. If it had been me in that situation, I eventually would have gone, 'Wait a second, you're a mouse, WHY ARE YOU A MOUSE?'"

"Well, that's why Master Riku doesn't let you speak," Oceana said good-naturedly, brushing over the reports and passing them to me. "Well, they start with you. Here are all the reports on Master Ventus, it's mostly speculation. It's understood that you took him to your homeworld and turned it into… _this_ place." She pointed to an illustration of the castle that our home had become, its golden facades and turquoise points bringing a tear to my eye as I relived the moment that I'd left Ventus behind and never returned.

"That's right," I said. "Nobody can find him, except for me."

"Yep, that's in here," Oceana said. "People have explored, nobody ever found a trace of him."

"Then he's still… gone," I said. "Well, then, I'll have to go and find him. What about Terra?"

"Terra…" Skye said sympathetically. "Well, his heart… it took a beating."

The next page was topped by illustrations of Terra and Xehanort, and beneath it, the silver-haired amalgam of the two.

"What happened to _him_?" I whispered, pointing shakily at the third .The gravelly voice, the toothy creature emerging from his back… had Master Xehanort ever been punished for what he did to Terra, and to Ven?

I tried scanning the story, but I simply couldn't make any sense of it. I caught that he was simply called "Xehanort" after that day, but so many names were tossed around subsequently… Xehanort, Xehanort's Heartless, Xemnas… Ansem the Seeker of Darkness, Ansem the Wise…

I skipped over this frustrating information, ruffling through the papers until I got to the final scrap of brown parchment, written in Mickey's handwriting.

_THANKS TO SORA AND RIKU, XEHANORT IS GONE FOREVER. TRAGICALLY, ALL SIGNS POINT TO TERRA BEING LOST AS WELL._

I crumbled up that note angrily. "I'll _never_ believe that," I said. "Ever."

The students were silent for a moment. They didn't know how to react… heck, I probably wouldn't have known how to react to me either.

"What are you going to do?" Skye asked.

"Well, going after Ven is my first step," I said. "Then both of us will work to piece together the clues to find Terra. Do you have a map?"

"What, like a map of all the worlds?" Oceana said. "Um, sure… come on up."

She took me straight up before veering off to the side, and I followed. I was aware of the boys behind me.

"Single-minded, huh?" Lando said quietly.

"She's lost her best friends," Skye said.

"Yeah," Lando agreed. "I was just thinking, if I was lost, would anybody come looking for me? With this much dedication?"

"Of course," Skye said. "Where's the faith, man?"

Lando was quiet for a moment. "I thought maybe you quit caring."

"I'm not gonna stop caring about you, you giant jerk," Skye said cheerfully.

The friendship between boys. There had been an intense antagonism between them ever since Lando's crack about Skye's stature—which had clearly been merely a breaking point. What had gone on between them, for their love to be marred with darkness? I knew the feeling, clashing with my dearest friends. We had survived it, bonding at the last moment before our eternal separation. I cared enough for these Keyblade students to hope that they, too, could make it through whatever ailed their friendship.

Oceana took me to the top of a sphere, depicting a map that depicted the entire Realm of Light.

"Here we are, on Crystal Spheres," Oceana said, pointing. "And way over there…" she pointed downwards, following a line that passed over several other worlds, "is Castle Oblivion, where you left Master Ventus."

"Ven," I whispered. I gently touched the graphic of the giant, crooked castle. "I'll be right there for you, Ven." My eyes slid over to a nearby world, with a graphic that depicted a familiar mountain surrounded by clouds.

"Olympus?" I said.

"Yeah, you've been there?" Skye asked.

"I have…" I confirmed. "I met somebody there. We got along really nicely. I don't think he was a native, though."

"What makes you say that?" Skye said.

"Well, he was… really good-looking," I said, allowing myself to laugh. "And he wore these huge gloves, and great big shoes. And there was something about the way he spiked his hair…" My hands reached out, flicking at Skye's own spiky hair. "Nobody else in that world had hair like that. It… well, it tends to be a sign that you're from a place that embraces world travel."

Lando nodded. "Yeah, that's probably true."

"Funny thing, I did some good stuff on that world," I said fondly. "And the two of us were gonna celebrate, but I had to go…"

"You left a guy behind on a distant world, huh?" Oceana said. "Aw, you guys, how heartbreaking is that?"

I sighed and kicked my glider into gear. "Well, he's not nearly as important as the _other_ two guys I left behind," I said. "And anyway, it's been twenty years… he's older now, and he's probably forgotten. I've got to go after Ven and Terra before I even think about getting started on my dating life."

"Yeah," Skye said. "Well, listen, as it happens, there are a couple of friends who _I_ need to get back to as well… I've got to go."

"Me too," Lando said. "Gotta get outta here."

"Why?" Skye said, surprised.

"Oh, I've just gotta meet Master Riku someplace," Lando said. "Catch you there, pal?"

"Sure," Skye said.

The two of them took off in different directions, vanishing quickly.

Oceana turned to me. "So, would you like me to accompany you to Castle Oblivion?"

"There's no need," I said. "Why don't you, um… well, just go tell some people what you've done today. They'll be impressed."

She laughed. "If you mean freeing you, that was a _very_ collaborative effort."

"Either way," I said. "Why don't you go tell Master Kairi? I… I guess I'm the one to blame for her even _being_ a Keyblade wielder. She ought to know I'm… back," I finished quietly.

"It's okay, Master Aqua," she said. "I know that you just want to be alone. Even if that does seem a bit…"

"Counterintuitive?" I offered, smirking. She was quite the soul reader, Kairi's girl. I might have known that, from the moment the four-year-old touched my Keyblade's hilt. "Yeah, after all the aloneness, you'd think that what I'd really want is… but no. I just want to find Ventus and Terra and… well, and maybe calm down a little bit."

"I've got you covered, Master," Oceana assured me.

I prepared myself to enter the lanes again. "I'm coming for you, Ven," I said quietly. "You too, Terra. I'm never giving up on you guys. We'll all be together again… forever."


	3. Fractured Hearts

**Aqua Mortis**

Hmm, evidently _Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation_ has been done a couple times. I figured. In name and premise, at the very least. But a premise can go in a lot of different directions, don't-cha-know.

And anyway, I never implied I was original. I consider the fact that I write all of my stories in-universe a huge step, considering that those are the only stories that are worth reading AT ALL, and yet nobody ever writes them. No offense, I just don't see the appeal of Organization XIII being a high school or whatever. My credo is, canon good, AU bad. Just my opinion. Not being judgmental, I'm sure most people actively flinch away from the words "next generation".

_Edited for quality._

**Fractured Hearts**

I hovered over the sharp, sinister castle. "Back again," I muttered. The place where it had been driven home that Master Eraqus, my father, was gone; where I had seen the ruin that darkness could cause; where I had left behind a pure-hearted, exceedingly special boy. Where would I find Ventus? I hoped I remembered.

I was shocked to see movement at the front doors, a person walking down the endless path leading far away. A tall, athletic blond man…

Could it be? He'd grown older _and_ he was awake! Could it truly be this easy?

"Ven!" I said, swooping in on him. "Ven, it's really you!" I hopped off my glider, letting it dissipate, and pulled Ventus into a tight hug. I could have held him like that forever. All the space and time that had gone by, and here was our reunion, just like that…

"Master Aqua, I'm assuming?" Ven said quietly.

"What?" I said, laughing. "Of course it's me. What's wrong with you, Ven?"

"Listen, Aqua," he said, "I'm sorry, you're excited and everything, but… see, my name is Roxas, and—"

"Roxas?" I repeated. "Why would you think you're not…?"

"Look," he said, "I've obviously heard of Master Ventus, and I've been told that the resemblance is exact, but—"

"Who's done this to you?" I demanded. "How could you not remember who you are? You've been possessed, or drained, or—"

"I know who I am, thank you very much!" he snapped. "My name is Roxas. I've _always_ been me. Okay?"

"But," I muttered. "Your heart… I'd recognize Ven's heart from miles away, and you've… you've got it."

"Yeah, about the heart," he said. "You're gonna wanna talk to the homeowner about that."

"Homeowner?" I said. This was more confusing by the minute. "Of what?"

"Of this heart," he said simply.

At that point, he simply changed into a different person. The changes were subtle: tanned skin, less vibrantly blue eyes. Finally, his hair darkened and expanded in all directions.

"Hi, Aqua," he said. "It's good to see you."

"Sora?" I said.

"That's right," he said with a smile. He leaned back with his hands behind his head, looking me over. "The Keyblade welcomes back one of its greatest Masters."

Suddenly, I pulled my arm back over my shoulder, and struck Sora hard in the face.

"It's good to see me?" I demanded. "I'm _welcome_? Where were you ten years ago, twenty years ago? I was told you were going to save me! Why didn't you? And you wrote off Ven and Terra as _dead_? What kind of hero are you? Why did you save all the worlds and forget—about—US?" I kicked him to the ground.

He looked up at me. "I'm sorry, Master," he said. "The last thing I'm going to say is that I'm perfect. I've certainly not finished everything that's been tasked to me…" He sighed. "Hardly a minute goes by I don't regret everything I left unfinished. As for twenty years ago, I was five. You remember. You were there. We _all_ remember, Riku and Kairi and me. The way we had no idea how to rescue you these past ten years? Kills us every day."

I stood over him menacingly for a few more seconds… but anger hadn't come easily to me, and I had a lot of difficulty maintaining it. "I'm so sorry, Sora," I said, offering my hand to him. "You didn't deserve that."

"It's fine," he said, standing.

"I struck you," I muttered. "For a moment there, I was furious, I hated you… how much darker can a heart get?"

"No, Master Aqua," Sora said. "You've spent twenty years _not_ getting rescued. Anger has been long overdue to you."

"It's still not right," I said. "And don't call me Master. We're equals, at the very least, and that's just assuming you're not _incredibly_ superior to me. Never mind that thanks to the timelessness in the Realm of Darkness, we're the exact same age."

He smiled. "Well, I'm not going to let you call _me_ Master either."

"You've certainly accomplished more than me, though," I said. "If you've been a Keyblade Master for ten years…"

"Eh, of all the gods and demons I've faced, I've been the one to come out on top," he replied modestly.

I laughed, leaning against him. "So… Roxas?" I said, unsure of how else to phrase the question.

"Ah, yes," Master Sora said fondly. "Well, over the course of my life, I haven't really had the luxury of… only being one person. People tend to take that for granted." He chuckled. "But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I mean, all I have to do is close my eyes and sink back into myself, and there's three really great friends waiting for me."

"_Three_ friends?" I said, alarmed. But he had no chance to elaborate, for moments later, we were surrounded by a dozen man-sized figures shrouded in gray.

"Hang on," Sora said, producing his Keyblade. I followed his lead.

Sora charged mercilessly, swinging his Keyblade two-handed and obliterating two of them at once.

It had been so long since there had been a need to fight anything—my confrontation with Vanitas had left me nearly withered, but I took to it in stride, fighting back these unknown creatures, executing all the nimble cuts and jabs I was capable of.

In time, I realized that my Keyblade cuts remained plainly visible on the flesh of the creatures. And then, one of them faced me directly, and I realized it had perfectly human eyes—in fact, its eyes were exactly like mine. I paused to stare for a brief moment, until its chilling breath and clawed hands began to overtake me.

Sora's Keyblade pushed through the creature's chest. It was at that point that I realized these creatures didn't vanish in a puff of black smoke like the Unversed did. Their mangled, bloody corpses were scattered all around.

Sora must have noticed my revulsion. "It's not like fighting Heartless, is it?" he said bitterly.

"Like fighting what?" I said blankly.

"Oh, that's right, the Heartless hadn't formed yet in your time, had they?" he muttered.

"Well, it's certainly different from taking down Unversed," I said. "What _were_ those things?"

"Midghosts," Sora replied. "There have been a number of plagues set on the worlds: you had your Unversed, then the Heartless, and the Nobodies… and now we've been beset by Midghosts. It's hard to say at this point how much of a threat they are, but they're certainly the most gruesome things many Keyblade wielders have had to face."

"You're not kidding," I said quietly. "And I could swear they had my eyes."

"Everyone sees their own eyes in the face of the Midghosts," Sora said. "We've got people trying to figure out where they come from, what they are, why they do the things they do… I just don't know."

A trail of sparkling dust blew through the air, back and forth, before touching on the ground, revealing, dazed, the tiny blue man I'd seen at the Keyblade Graveyard.

"Whoo!" he said. "I'm telling you, Sora, there's only one way to travel, and that's by Star Shard."

"I'll take your word for it, King André," Sora said dryly. "Too jarring, in my opinion. For me, it's Gummi ship or nothing."

André looked around. "Ugh… my sympathies for whatever happened here. No place is safe from the Midghost threat."

"That'll be why you finally left Pixar Palace?" Sora said. "You figured that staying hidden didn't help if _your_ world was destroyed too?"

André winced. "Look, I got the coward talk from Kermit and Mickey, okay? There's nothing left you can say to me. How about we go inside the castle, away from this carnage?"

"I'm for that," I murmured.

And we three Masters entered Castle Oblivion. I took a moment to grow used to the blinding white of the interior.

"Actually," André said, "my departure has more to do with a thorough chewing-out I received from a certain miniscule key-slinger named Skye. Isn't he yours?"

Sora shrugged. "Well, I trained him for all of five minutes before _your_ court magician sent him hunting Midghosts, but for all intents and purposes, yes, he is my pupil."

"Don't blame the court magician," said a reedy voice. Turning, I saw a man emerge from the emptiness. He was clothed in gray robes not unlike the Midghosts, but his skin was fully colored, his face open. He was elderly, with bony fingers and a huge nose. His eyebrows were thick and white, as was the little hair he had left. He wore round glasses that greatly magnified his brown eyes.

"Oh, good," said André. "Master Aqua, I think that Geri, my magician, has some research you'd like to see."

Geri pocketed his eyeglasses and began preparing a magic spell.

"What research?" I said.

"Well, Master, your return is no small thing," Geri said. "Nor, indeed, is the rebirth of Vanitas."

"I imagine it's not," I said. "How did it happen?"

Geri produced a three-dimensional image in the palm of his hand: a white circle, resembling the structures at Crystal Spheres. "Suppose that here, we have the heart of the late Master Ventus."

"He's not dead," I interrupted.

"No… perhaps not," Geri said. "Anyway, long ago, his heart was torn in two. And the pure darkness became Vanitas." He broke off a piece of the circle, and something about the crescent-moon shape floating away from the main heart chilled me to the bone.

"The darkness that is Vanitas sustained itself," Geri said. "But Ventus needed aid. His heart was made whole by what my research indicates was the pure light-filled heart of the newborn Master Sora." The appearance of Ven's heart was made whole again, the dark crescent still off in the distance.

"Really?" I said, turning to Sora. "Wow. I owe you, then, for sustaining Ven's heart, as well as for everything else. I've owed you from the day you were born."

"Think nothing of it," Sora said. "Go on, Geri."

"After a period of time, Ventus reabsorbed his dark side," Geri said, and he pressed the crescent shape back against the sphere. "And subsequently, his heart slept."

"Well, I know _that_," I said. "What happened to Sora's heart, then?"

"Ven's heart returned to Sora at that point," Geri said. "And since one cannot exist without the other, he took Vanitas with him. Which either means that Master Sora has a fifth and sixth person living inside him that the other four don't know about…"

"I think I would know that," Sora said.

"Indeed. Thus, the alternative. See, here's Ventus' heart, and here's yours, Master Sora," Geri brought in another sphere to represent Sora's heart, and pressed it tightly against the first shape he had conjured. "I believe that when Master Ventus returned to you, your hearts were simply swizzled together, effectively ending the existence of Ventus and Vanitas. Or rather, laying their existence down to sleep."

André contemplated that. "So, what happened at the Keyblade Graveyard?" he asked.

"Well, there's no saying for certain," Geri replied. He closed his hand, and his holographic presentation vanished. "But I believe it had a great deal to do with Master Aqua. Something about her return to the place where all Keyblade wielders leave their mark on fate—it awoke the heart of Vanitas, which reunited with his soul back at his gravesite, thus creating the Remnant. Now, since Vanitas cannot exist without Ventus, this means _his_ heart is awake and independent as well."

Sora closed his eyes for a brief moment. "All of _my_ hearts are accounted for," he said. "What does this mean, Geri?"

"Why, that the heart of Master Ventus is reunited with his body."

"WHAT?" I said. "You're saying Ven is awake? Then why have we been standing around talking?"

I ran. Castle Oblivion was much more labyrinthine than it looked, and this of course was by design. Only I could penetrate its deepest secrets, only I could find the Chamber of Waking.

I whipped out Master Eraqus' Keyblade, and used its powers on the door. I knew in my very heart that this was where I had left Ven, this is where he had wanted me to take him…

The room was empty. I heard three sets of footsteps coming after me as Sora, André, and Geri tried to keep pace. I turned away from the Chamber, meeting up with them down the hall, my mind almost blank—_the room was empty_.

"He's gone," I said.

André's eyes practically bugged out. "What?" he said. "Did someone take him?"

"Impossible," I said. "He must have moved himself. How long has it been since Vanitas returned?"

"About five hours," André said. "Yeah, somebody could probably cover a lot of ground in five hours."

"Oh, Ven," I sighed. "Why would you leave? Where did you go? I came straight here…"

Sora touched my shoulder. "It may be hard to understand, you who waited twenty years for rescue, but if I was suddenly awake and alone, I wouldn't have counted on something happening. I'd have left this place. By myself."

I dropped to one knee. "Ven," I sobbed. "I thought we'd be together again, you and me and Terra. Why do things have to be this way?"

Right at my eye level, I saw André scowl. "Because a Keyblader's life _sucks_," he said.

I was amazed by how right he was. "What am I supposed to do?" I said. "Castle Oblivion was the only lead I had. I'm _never_ going to find my friends."

This time, Sora was the one to help me to my feet. "Yes, you will," he said. "Come with me to my home world, Destiny Islands. I… well, I'm pretty sure Kairi would like to see you again. You cast the charm on her that led her to me, and we're both incredibly grateful for that. We'll dig up a _new_ lead."

I sighed. "Okay." I summoned my own Keyblade to turn it into the glider, pausing to behold the one I had just used.

I tossed it to André. "Take this," I said. "It belonged to Master Eraqus, I don't want it anymore. Put it on display or something."

"Okay," André replied quietly.

I called my glider and boarded it. Sora smiled.

"Ah," he said. "The Keyblade Glider is beyond the scope of my abilities; I didn't have much formal training. I have to travel worlds by other means."

"I'll wait while you prepare yourself," I said.

"Good," Sora said. He paused, then gripped my hand. "We're going to finish this, Master Aqua," he said. "I swear to you, we'll find them."


	4. A Burst of Faith

**Aqua Mortis**

_Edited for quality._

…And re-edited for Scribbles I! I gave it the good once-over. Don't want you to find _too_ much to quote, you know.

**A Burst of Faith**

Sora and I stepped into his sunny, warm homeland—Destiny Islands. I remembered it well, basking in the warm glow of the sun and feeling refreshed when I witnessed the ocean for the first time. Just turning up here was once again rejuvenating. Sora seemed more alive as well, his heart strongly connected to the heart of his world.

"So…" I said to him. "Who exactly are the three people who live in your heart?"

"Mm," he said. "Well, it's a very long story, but suffice it to say that Roxas needed to join with my heart in order to be complete. As for Axel and Xion, well, they just kind of found me. And I'm so glad they did."

I considered that. "'Xion'. Is that spelled with an 'X'?"

"Bingo. You've caught the nuances of the little Nobody gang they used to belong to."

"What are Nobodies?" I asked. "You mentioned them before."

"Fractions of people. People with no hearts. Kairi's got one too, Naminé. A bit of an odd duck, but we love her."

"But 'Naminé' doesn't have an 'X' in it."

"Well, it's not a set rule, Aqua," he said, chuckling. "Uh-oh."

Something whizzed through the air straight for his head; a sphere, blue and white. Sora batted it away before I even had a second, alarmed as I was, to react, and a heavily muscled orange-haired man, standing on higher ground beyond the beach, caught it.

"What's the matter with you?" Sora called. "That could kill a person."

"A person, sure, but not a Keyblade Master, that's my point," the guy said. He paused to look at me. "Rather, _two_ Keyblade Masters, ya? You just find this one?"

"Yep," Sora said. "Wakka, this is Master Aqua. Aqua, my good pal Wakka."

"Hi, Wakka," I said. "Doing all right?"

"I'm doin' just fine, ya," he said, pounding the ball in his hand. "And you?"

"Great," I replied with a light smile.

"Come on around to my place," Sora said. "See, our little island here has become something of a… hub, if you will, for Keyblade wielders. And why not? We should be able to return home."

"Yeah," I said, smiling. Returning to one's home. What an idea. My home had become Castle Oblivion. And who would want to live there? I had no home. Where would my home be, when I found my friends again?

"For the safety of our town, the island is kept guarded," Sora explained. "Wakka, Tidus, Selphie, and Stitch are our honor guard."

He pointed to various spots on the island; a rather scruffy-looking man with a sword waved to him, along with a gorgeous woman dressed in yellow, swinging an oversized nunchaku.

"_Ah-ku-ah!_" said a throaty voice. There was suddenly a huge weight atop my head, and my vision was filled by an upside-down face with huge, black eyes and a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"626?" I said, alarmed.

He hopped off my head and stood in front of me. "Stitch," he said.

"What?" I said uncertainly.

"My name is Stitch," he said clearly.

"Oh," I said. "Well, I guess that makes sense… didn't you used to have more arms and protrusions?"

Sora laughed. "He tries to fit in, seem normal. You know, I shouldn't be at all surprised that you know Stitch. He's spent the past couple of decades cruising world-to-world, expanding his circle of friends."

"Circle," Stitch repeated, producing a multicolored Wayfinder—a proper one, made of shell.

Wow. I'd forged the connection of friendship with Experiment 626, the connection that never broke with distance, and now we were together again. That… well, that mattered. I was entirely surprised by how much it mattered, how significant this was. I'd thought that all I could ever care for had been Terra and Ven, but… no, I found myself still able to feel for a different old friend.

Maybe I could… still live?

"Who'd have known," Sora continued, "that all it would take to get him to stay in one place is the love of a single little girl from Destiny Islands." He patted Stitch's head. "Lilo's sweet. If you've got enough time, you should come to the main island and meet her."

"I just might do that," I said. "It's good to see you again… Stitch."

"_Ih_," he replied, nodding. He closely followed at our heels as Sora and I walked along the beach.

"Sora!" came a clear and sweet voice. From a familiar tree with star-shaped fruit, a beautiful young woman with shiny, dark red hair dropped to the ground, rushing over to embrace Sora, who reciprocated, twirling her around once and finishing with a tender kiss.

"Hi, love," Sora said quietly. I felt their connection, huge and bold and beautiful. Not at all soured or dampened by the years of routine, Sora and Kairi were still freshly in love. That love would get them through any storm, I knew it.

When they parted, Kairi spotted me and smiled broadly. "Hello, Master Aqua," she said. "Good to see you again."

"You too, Master Kairi," I said. Her immediate warmth toward me was alarming—I expected her to resent me at least a little, for surely the Keyblade had brought her anguish? But if it had, she was over it. In fact, she _loved_ me… was that possible? She barely remembered me, but in her heart of a Princess, she loved me. What do you do with that? No person could aspire to a heart of pure light, not unless they were born with it.

Kairi abruptly turned back to Sora. "Naminé says you're missing some of your memories."

"Um, what?" Sora said. "I haven't forgotten anything, I'd remember that…" He paused, realizing what he had just said, and doubled over with laughter.

"Cute," Kairi said, giggling. "No, what's happening is… she says it's the fringes of your heart, the parts that were once… oh…"

"Ventus?" Sora said.

"Ventus," Kairi confirmed in a whisper. She looked at me, then back at Sora. "So…?"

"Two out of three," Sora said. "Unfortunately, Ventus is a package deal with Vanitas… and we don't know where either of those guys are. We're worried about them both, for different reasons."

"Naturally," Kairi said. "Naminé says she'd have been able to find out where Ventus has gone, but he's completely stripped from you… she feels bad. She hasn't felt useless since her early days, she hates it. Now she's gonna make _me_ cry."

"This is highly circumstantial, Naminé," Sora said. "And no worries." He tapped his breastbone, the symbolic location of the heart. "Axel's been going nuts in here ever since we found out that Ventus is awake. They were friends way back when."

I stared blankly at them. "Isn't it difficult to have other people's thoughts ringing in your heart constantly?" I asked.

Kairi laughed. "They're mostly dormant, keep to themselves. They only pipe up when it's really important."

"Really?" I said. I looked at Sora. "But at Castle Oblivion, you _were_ Roxas."

This appeared to be news to Kairi, but Sora waved it away. "Personal errand," he said. "Think nothing of it. Wait, what the heck…?"

We all turned to the shore. The normally calm, blue lapping waves were quite suddenly rising to epic proportions. At the top of the highest wave, a youth was sailing forward on a Keyblade Glider, her long black hair whipping behind her on the wind.

"Wow," said a new voice. "Oceana's gotten good."

"Hey, Riku," Sora said.

I turned to Riku. His silver hair was nearly waist-length, his face barely visible.

"Aqua," Riku greeted me, revealing one of his startlingly bright eyes.

Oceana surfed in at that point. Her Glider vanished right beneath her feet and she dropped to the ground, the sea calming behind her as she did so.

"Good evening, Masters," she said, bowing. "Hey, Stitch."

"Oceana," Riku said.

"Oh, Master Riku!" Oceana said excitedly. "Is Lando here?"

"Hmm? No, I haven't seen him since he set off on his mission."

"Really?" Oceana said. "He told us he had to go meet you."

Riku muttered something under his breath. "That punk kid is gonna get caught up in his lies one of these days. I wonder where the hell he's really gone?"

I took a seat in the crook of the paopu tree. Kairi joined me.

"Oceana's an amazing student," I told her. "You must be a great teacher."

"Mm, hardly," Kairi said. "I may be a Master, but I've never been a combatant like you. Oceana got her talents elsewhere… I've only been teaching her the fundamentals, what it _means_ to own the Keyblade." She produced her own flowered Keyblade, gazing at it fondly. "But, no, Oceana could kick my butt any day of the week. I'm no warrior."

"Really?" I said. I looked over my shoulder at Oceana, calling my own blade. "If you'd like to defeat our successor, perhaps I can aid you." A friendly game would put my heart at ease. And if Oceana was _that_ good? She was asking for it.

Kairi smirked. "I see what you're saying… HEY, OCEANA! PREPARE YOURSELF!"

Kairi and I leapt at the student. Shock and even horror flashed across her face, but she parried excellently.

"Two Masters on _me_, huh?" she said. "I can handle that."

The three of us sparred good-naturedly well into the evening, as Sora and Riku watched with conviction, and Stitch set himself aside with a ukulele.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A good amount of time later, Kairi, Oceana, and I broke apart, all tuckered out, no clear victor. Stitch was still playing, singing songs—when he was comprehensible—of heartbreak, loss, and being alone. His voice and music resonated within me, as did the message of the song…

"Hmm," I said quietly.

"Not an Elvis fan?" Sora asked.

"Oh, I am," I said quickly. "But…"

It had gotten dark, the clear sky of Destiny Islands dotted with stars. It was as beautiful as skies get, but I found it depressing. I saw the big picture.

"So many stars," I said. "Every star is another world. Ven could be on any one of those stars… short of searching every one, how will I ever find him?"

Stitch paused in his song and stepped up to me, presenting his Wayfinder. "Friendship… will never be… broken," he said.

Kairi reached for the blue Wayfinder hanging around my neck. "I'd bet you anything that Ventus still carries _his_ magic charm too," she said. "He'll find his way back to you."

I stared at it for a moment. "I don't know if it really works," I said. "It's just a good-luck charm with a little tugging spell cast on it…"

Riku silenced me with a harsh glare. "Master Aqua," he said. "The only way that Ventus and Terra will cease to exist will be if you no longer believe in them. Don't give up on them, not now, not ever. Terra gave me this power, I'll never pretend that I deserve it. You'll find them, Aqua. Your enchantments—abstract as they are, they work, and that's a fact. Use your Wayfinder to get your friends back, and every owner of a Keyblade will help you out, the best we can."

I realized that at some point during our match, the flip-haired woman from the honor guard had joined us, her nunchaku held loosely at her side while she rested lovingly against Riku's shoulder, taking in what he was saying.

Stitch produced a blaster, pointing it straight in the air. "Light!" he proclaimed.

A portal opened in the air. Everyone gestured to it, looking at me expectantly. I looked around at them, confused.

"Are you kicking me out?" I said.

"Of course not," Sora said. "But we can tell that you're never going to rest. Not until you've found them."

"You're right," I said. I would never truly be at peace with myself, not until the faces from my childhood were back again. I conjured my glider.

"Thanks, everyone," I said. I clutched my Wayfinder. "Ven, Terra, I know we'll be together again, and we'll be home… I don't know where home is, but we'll be there."

I took off alone into the Lanes Between.


	5. All the Worlds Apart

**Aqua Mortis**

PEANUT: Do you think you could cite an example of what you find to not have enough depth? 'Cause, well, it looks detailed enough to me. But I don't know a thing, I'm the author. Help me out? I wouldn't call you out like this, but you apparently do the PM-disabled thing.

And if anyone else has some tips, feedback, or just happened to, you know, notice something… don't hold back. I need people.

_Edited for quality._

**All the Worlds Apart**

I jetted through the Lanes; for the most part, aimlessly. I held my charm, hoping to at some point feel that intuitive tug, the knowledge that Ventus was around and safe. I had no idea where I'd find that, if I ever did.

With worlds and stars passing me by with no variations, something caught my attention. The black-and-white empty bodysuit of Vanitas was floating alone through space… yes. This was the answer. It would end right now.

I triggered my fear, my anguish, my hate. I let it guide me. "VANITAS!" I bellowed as loudly as I could. I banked my glider and rammed him. The impact shook me; after barreling into him, it took some time to turn around to straighten my flight pattern.

"Whoa!" he said. "Had a feeling I'd see you again, _Master_." He produced his Keyblade, keeping it cocked over his head as he dangled in the emptiness. "Having a space battle, are we? That's quite the rush."

Always at ease. I despised him for it. "Light!" I commanded, and a burst of it shot from my chest, enveloping him.

I dimly heard an "aaagh"—then he leapt out of my lingering attack and slashed at my face. My defensive reflexes were suddenly sharp—I bent back, out of his range, and my weight brought my glider pulling upwards as well. As my glider flipped me completely upside-down, the sharp point at its front caught Vanitas in the diaphragm.

"Ack!" he choked out.

"I've got you now, freak," I said. "Fire!"

Three fireballs shot straight into his chest. He jumped back and floated in space for a few more moments.

"Sure, beat up an empty suit of armor," he said. "Smart."

He charged at me, hacking and jabbing with his Keyblade. I tried to defend myself without my actual weapon, but he kept coming at me until I lost my grip on my glider. As I floated, he grabbed me by the throat.

"I wish our fights could last longer," he said gently. "I wish they could last _forever_… but you're always getting in my way. I've got better ways to spend my time." He started choking me. My head spun, and I registered the creak of my own breathing.

"What's it like?" Vanitas whispered to me. "Feeling the very life squeezed out of you… what do you see? Is it your dear Terra and Ventus? How's it feel, knowing that you'll never see them, that no one will ever see them again?"

Vanitas was a fool. Everyone knows you don't provoke a cornered animal.

I reached out in front of me, and my hand managed to find a corner of my glider. It was enough. A single touch from my fingertips, and it turned back into my Keyblade, gripped firmly in my hand.

I swung my Keyblade with all of my might, stabbing the wrist of the hand that was choking me. He pulled away in agony and vanished, rematerializing behind me to take my Keyblade right from my hand.

"NO—!" I burst out.

"That was your _last_ risky maneuver," he said, bringing his blade and mine together like scissor blades, to chop off my head.

I was ready for him, perfectly ready to pull a trick from his deck. I teleported directly behind his back, and the blades clashed together. The impact stiffened both of Vanitas' arms, and he spun in the zero gravity of the Lanes.

"Yield now, Vanitas!" I said.

"You wish," he said. He tossed my Keyblade off into the emptiness, and using his powers of darkness jetted himself towards a nearby world.

I grabbed his ankles, and we broke the barrier together, tumbling to the ground.

He leapt back, leaving me to heave slowly to my feet. "You're defenseless now," he said. "You're _mine_ now."

"Wrong," I said. My Keyblade appeared in my hand. "A Keyblade _always_ returns to its wielder… idiot." I offered him a sneering smile, knowing that his favorite epithet for Ventus would hit his ego when turned around on him. He was a bully; he would never be able to handle his own devices turned against him.

He started slowly circling, not letting his guard down. I didn't know where we were; the grass-and-dirt landscape could have belonged on any world.

"So, what's up?" he said. "Jumping me in the Lanes Between… what did I ever do to you?" He laughed out loud.

I ignored his bravado. I'd driven him to my mercy before. "You're going to take me to Ventus," I said.

"Sorry?"

"Ventus," I snarled. "You were born of him, your hearts are linked—you will be my prisoner, and you will lead me to your other half."

He broke out laughing again. "I don't have another half," he said. "I am me. No one else."

"You're a hideous mistake," I said.

"Ooh, I'm wounded. And I've got better things to do. Good-bye, Master Aqua."

He opened a Corridor of Darkness and stepped in. Without hesitation, I followed him, digging my blade into his back. I reveled in his shriek of agony, basked in the satisfaction of puncturing his armor shell.

"What the hell?" he said.

"I have nothing to fear from the darkness!" I said. "My light has had decades to gain strength! I'm perfectly immune. And I'll keep you trapped in the darkness—I'll see you sink into it."

I held out my Keyblade, and noticed something happening to me that I'd seen on Terra several times: my hands were laced with darkness, and it extended all along my Keyblade.

"HYAHHHH!" I screamed, slashing at Vanitas—I attacked and attacked and attacked, so blindingly fast that Vanitas couldn't react in the slightest, even after nearly a minute of my unrelenting cuts.

Finally, when I couldn't fight through my own exhaustion any longer, he brought his Keyblade up to block mine, then rolled away in the Corridor.

"You're even more deranged than I am!" he said gleefully. "I love it! After the darkness has taken you, give me a call. You'd be a fine partner."

He whacked me in the face with the hilt of the Void Gear. I felt the immense pain of the concussive blow, then a sleepy sensation, then nothing.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Aqua."

"Hmmm…?"

"Aqua. Aqua, look at me."

I opened my eyes. "Who's there?"

"It's me. It's Terra."

And it was. There he was, exactly as I remembered him, youthful and kind and handsome, with a sweet and reserved smile.

"Terra," I said. "How is this possible?"

"Look around," he said.

We were standing on a glowing platform, seemingly suspended in nothing. Under my feet were images of all the friends I'd known, and occupying a good percentage of the floor was a huge picture of my face, not unlike the one at Crystal Spheres.

"Where are we?" I said.

"It's your Dive to the Heart," Terra said. "Everybody has one, and everybody visits it. Most people only see it at the moment of their death. Keyblade wielders, however, have the distinction of being able to see theirs any time they want."

"So, this is real?" I said.

"As real as it gets," Terra said. "The physical world is a crude reality at best."

I couldn't quite process that… but if we were truly inside my heart…

"Then you still exist!" I said. "You must…"

"I do," Terra said. "In some form or another, yes, I do still exist."

"Then…" I stammered. "Then everyone is wrong about you! You're not gone forever! You have to tell me how to rescue you…"

Something far above caught my eye. "Terra, what is…?" I began slowly.

But it was quickly clear what it was: a human skull, floating above us. It was bleach-white, its eyes empty, but I would have sworn in was looking at me.

"What is that doing in my heart…?" I wondered. I stepped back as it swooped down over me, and I quickly realized that it wasn't actually close at all. As the skull stopped levitating, instead coming to rest on the floor of my Dive to the Heart, I realized that it was taller than I was, and much, much broader. This skull had come between me and Terra, and I could no longer see him.

"Terra?" I said. I tried to go around the skull, but no matter which way I moved, it remained directly in front of me, its dead face looking straight at me.

"Terra, I can't see you!" I cried. "Tell me how I can find you!"

Within the skull's empty eye sockets, a pair of wild, bright blue eyeballs appeared and leered at me, as the man-sized skull cackled hideously.

"You can't!" it said. "You will never find him! Not while I'm here! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

"Terra!" I shrieked. We'd been together for barely a minute, and would this be how it ended?

"Aqua!" he called back. No. It wouldn't. He was frightened, but he was not alone. He would have me—always.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I jerked awake, gasping.

I was floating. The Corridor of Darkness had dumped me somewhere out in the Lanes Between… how could I know where I was, or how long I'd been out? It would take a lot of flying world to world if I was to ever get my bearings…

Or would it? I realized there was a world, within easy access and directly in front of me. Its distinguishing feature seemed to be a mountain that rose far above the clouds, and atop the clouds was a vast, unearthly city…

"Olympus?" I muttered to myself.

It had to be. The world seemed different somehow… but how else could I account for the godly presence on those mountains? This was the world where I had… I had…

I clutched my Wayfinder, remembering what was really important to me. But Terra and Ventus were out of reach. I had no clues, no signals to follow. And no matter how hard I tried not to think about it, blood was still rushing to my face, making me sweat.

Maybe finding a single piece of my past… maybe that would be good for me. Maybe a look at a single constant would get the rest of the pieces back into place… if I could just find one thing, one, that was the way it was before, maybe everything would go back to normal in time.

The key to everything, then, was one thing. And there was one person whose eager face wouldn't leave my mind…

"Zack," I said aloud. "My heart is fractured, incomplete without Terra and Ven, who are nothing short of extensions of myself. But… maybe I can find a way to strengthen the pieces of me I have left…"

I called my Keyblade Glider and boarded it, jetting straight for the familiar world that seemed oddly unfamiliar.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

I may occasionally throw in endnotes. Somebody cares enough to wonder what I'm thinking, I'm sure of it.

Well, here's the deal. I mentioned earlier that elements used may be property of Disney, or Square-Enix, or someone else entirely. Here's where the "someone else" bit comes in.

It's hard to write a _Kingdom Hearts_ fic and NOT involve crossovers. The great thing about the KH continuity and crossovers is that, even though you're irreparably butchering one canon, the other one, the KH one, remains completely intact. By which I mean, as long as you get the way _Kingdom Hearts_ works, you don't need to have any understanding at all of the other element. By which I mean, please please please don't stop reading this because I swear you'll get it and I pray that you'll enjoy it.

Anyway, when the time rolls around for me to get to the main story, the elements that Skye, Oceana, and Lando encounter will be strictly Disney-brand, but I've come up with three _very_ non-Disney ideas that I simply had to go with—and _these_, therefore, will be the next three worlds that Aqua visits. These worlds are called "Sparta", "Distant Future", and "The Very Expensive Forest", and I hope that you'll have a measure of enjoyment for them.

So, next chapter Aqua will be a part of the world of my _other_ favorite video game series… I think it'll all work out. I'm not a cheap hack, I swear.


	6. What Makes Life Worth Living

**Aqua Mortis**

PEANUT: Thank you, you're brilliant. You'll notice that the first five chapters have been modified to the specifications of your sage advice! If it was truly a mistake, I hope that you and I can PM about our respective stories in the near future!

Everybody else, review lest I hunt down your family. And I'll do it, too.

And remember, if you don't know what title I'm visiting here, you don't have to. Think of it as a side-quest.

_Re-edited._ Hey, Scribbles. I'm trying to stay one step ahead of you in the refinement process. But I know how much you love all-caps shouting, so I didn't remove any of that. Call it a special gift.

**What Makes Life Worth Living**

Many months passed.

I searched. I journeyed. I begged. I hadn't found a sign of Zack, and despite the tugging of my Wayfinder, no one had heard of Terra or Ventus either.

I wasn't going to give up. I promised myself that I wouldn't leave this world until I had a true reason. But after months passed, I began to think that this vow was merely hopelessness.

On this world, I'd found a reason to use the Keyblade. I'd made a life for myself. I'd begun following the guidance of a man I had come to accept as my lord and captain.

I was at sea, a crew member on a single warship in a vast fleet. A storm swirled around us; the rain pounded and the sea was rough. But under this captain, there was never any surrender, even to the elements. There was only death.

Today, death was coming quickly.

Directly to port, a huge tentacle rose out of the ocean and, with a single tug, sank a neighboring ship.

"It's attacking the fleet!" someone bellowed. "We've displeased the gods, my lord!"

I looked forward, trying to get a sense of the situation. I didn't have a hope; I climbed up the mainmast and peered forward. The ship at the head of our formation was quickly being beset by warriors who crawled straight out of the sea, brandishing spears and mercilessly hacking at my comrades. Death and destruction followed this man, and it was my job as Keyblade Master to fight it off.

I jumped from the top of the mast, soaring all the way to the lead ship, hacking through the aquatic attackers. Their green blood stained the ship's deck, but my Keyblade remained clean.

A tentacle the thickness of a tree wrapped itself around the ship, tugging us down. Meanwhile, the owner of the tentacle reared its head to inspect the ship's front. It had six glowing white eyes, a sharp nose, and a maw of gnarled, crushing teeth.

My lord was at the bow as the ocean beast bent down to snap him up, but he managed to keep its jaws from closing around him with his bare hands.

"AQUA!" he bellowed to me.

"On my way!" I called. I slashed at the tentacle blocking my path; agonized, the creature withdrew it and I rushed through the cabin to the ship's front.

The monster's jaw had been broken in its grapple with my captain, but it was still far from harmless. A pair of clawed arms started tearing at the wood, and its nose horn dug and tore into flesh. I put all of my energy into swinging my Keyblade, and the eyes on one side of its head were cut straight through.

The beast had gathered up the ship in its remaining tentacles and tossed it to the shore. The wind whipped my face like a sheet of needles, and on impact, the wood splintered beneath my feet and I was tossed, forcefully, onto hard earth.

I held my Keyblade, but couldn't lift my hand. I had broken bones in several places, and simply breathing in and out caused blood to bubble up in my mouth. The sounds of battle surrounded me, but I felt that I was already done.

"Eurgh… no!" I rasped. Ahead of me in the sand, one of the storage barrels from the ship had been shattered, and bottles of something bright green had tumbled out.

"It's not going to end today," I muttered confidently. I crawled forward with all of the effort my body had left, uncorked one of the potions and drank deeply.

With a snap and a tear, my bones and muscles were mended. I inhaled deeply, my fixed lungs taking in the precious oxygen. I wasn't even close to finished now.

The sea monster had partially beached itself, holding itself up on the rocks while it attacked a solitary figure on the foggy beach. Its broken jaw, if anything, had angered it and made it even deadlier.

"Aqua, to me!" the man called again.

I lunged, the two of us working in tandem to slash at the sea monster's face. With immense strength, the man leapt into the air and to the top of the monster's head, before leaping out of sight.

"Wait—!" I called.

Was he sacrificing me? I always knew he would. No matter. I let out a feral screech as I leapt at the monster.

I executed every combination of attacks I knew, wearing the colossal beast down. Finally, I settled on digging my Keyblade deep into its neck and twisting as many times as I could.

When I tugged it out in a spatter of gore, it lifted one of its hands and pressed down, flattening me. It presented its underbelly, displaying large holes in its chest. With a sickening sound, its four tentacles emerged and slapped at me. I was defenseless.

Suddenly, a warship appeared, surging forward on a shorebound wave as it was violently steered sideways, and its long pointed bow was driven straight through the monster's brain. The monster tumbled feebly to the ground.

I looked to see who was piloting that ship. Of course… he hadn't left, not at all. He _never_ left a battle unfinished.

"Thank you, Lord Kratos," I said. "Nicely done."

He jumped out of the boat, bracing himself upon impact. Kratos was very tall and very broad, with muscles that bulged all over his body. His skin was a dusty, pale gray, and his head was shaved, while his chin sported a short goatee. His chest was bare, as he wore only a lightly armored loincloth, sandals, and bracers.

His most distinguishing feature was his tattoo. Bright red, it began at a point just below his eye and swirled over his head, all around his back, chest, and one arm. Also on his back, he wore two enormous axe-blade-like weapons, which were hooked directly to his wrists by chains that circled his bracers.

And his expression was always—_always_—one of pure fury.

Now, he looked at the distant mountain that was visible from any point of this world. "IS THIS ALL YOU WOULD THROW AT ME?" he roared. "IS THIS ALL THAT OLYMPUS HAS TO OFFER?"

I followed his gaze. If this truly was Olympus, it was not the Olympus I knew. The skies there were always bright, the colors vibrant. Here, everything was gray and sorrowful.

"I just don't understand, Kratos," I said. "Has this world always been so dark, so painful?"

He eyed me briefly. "Yes," he said firmly, in his gravelled, resounding bass. "Yes, it has."

I sighed. "Then I'm on the wrong world," I said. "I should go."

I put away my Keyblade, my hands clammy. The heat of battle was gone, and I felt nothing but regret at all my time wasted. I started walking away, to a place out of sight where I could depart.

I realized that the beach where the monster had thrown us was at the foot of a smooth stone city, where the oversized statue of a noble-looking woman in battle armor stood guard. We were in Athens.

"ATHENA!" Kratos yelled to the statue. "YOU LIED TO ME! THE GODS LIED TO ME! MY BROTHER LIVES!"

I looked uncertainly back to him. "Kratos, that's…"

"_ATHENA!_" he barked out furiously.

The statue glowed white with godly power, and the woman's mouth began to move. "I had no choice, Kratos," she said. "Your brother was a threat to Olympus."

"Yes," Kratos said darkly. "The marked warrior shall bring about the fall of the gods…" He ran his hands along his tattooed face. "Perhaps you chose your pawn too early," he growled.

"There is more to this than you could possibly know, Kratos," Athena said. "Forgive me."

Kratos screamed with rage and rammed the statue's base, shattering it. Athena was gone.

It was time for me to be gone as well. I walked discreetly into the streets of Athens.

"I HAVE LOST EVERYTHING THAT WAS DEAR TO ME!" Kratos yelled to no one. "THE GODS HAVE FORSAKEN ME! And now… now I can't even command the loyalty of a single Spartan." He glowered at me tightly.

I looked around, frightened for my life briefly… he was angry at me, and people who caused Kratos anger often ended up looking like the shattered statue of Athena. "I'm sorry," I said. "But, see, I'm not sure I really _am_ a Spartan."

"Yes, you are," Kratos said. "You fight with passion, always standing tall. You never back down, and you will never allow yourself to die."

I was flattered—any attention received from Kratos was high praise, but he wasn't entirely right… after all, I…

Well, actually he was completely right. But it didn't mean anything, just that I had a powerful heart. So did he.

"That's true," I said. "But I have my reasons. Why do _you_ fight that way?"

He turned away, sneering. "Because I have nothing left for which to live," he said.

"Mm… I know how that feels," I said. "You shouldn't have that kind of attitude, Kratos. No matter how things seem, there's always a light over the next horizon. I'm never giving up on what I need to live for."

"Yo, Kratos!" came a voice.

From the streets of Athens came a figure in exotic, blue-and-black battle armor, with a large sword mounted on his shoulder. As he approached us, he removed his helmet, revealing swept, spiky black hair.

No… it wasn't possible…

Well, it was entirely possible. After the months of searching and finding only dead ends, perhaps I _had_ given up. Yes, I must have given up without realizing it… because I'd never asked Kratos if he knew my friends.

But clearly, he did. Zack walked straight over to him, with the familiarity of an old friend, and shook his hand.

"All hail the God of War," Zack said cheerfully. "I've been hearing wild rumors, man. Last I heard, you're heading over to Sparta to search for your lost brother… I had to track you down. Didn't want to miss it."

"You've performed your duty well, Zack," Kratos said. "Join with me, and we shall free my brother from the clutches of the gods." Kratos passed Zack, marching down the street with the confidence of a man who was absolutely unstoppable.

Zack snapped his fingers and rolled his neck. "Good to hear," he said. "Hey, Aqua. Pretty amazing, huh, that two separate worlds can have the exact same set of deities? 'Course, the main difference is that this world _is_ sex and violence—oh yeah." He accentuated his final interjection by dipping into a squat.

I was taken aback, still frozen from the shock of a familiar face in this gruesome world. In the Realm of Darkness, I hadn't had much to do besides pore over my memories. My emotion from them never decreased. The sweet moments still made me cry, just as the horrible moments did. And this single instant, this phrase… "_How about one date?_" No matter how stale the memory grew, it still made me blush.

"I… um… what do you mean 'hey, Aqua'?" I demanded. "Zack, aren't you a bit surprised to see me? After twenty years?"

"Not at all," Zack said. "We agreed we'd meet again after I became a hero, and… well… hasn't happened yet." He pounded a fist into his palm. "It's a good sign that you're here. Maybe an omen that I'm ready, huh?"

"Really?" I whispered. I was very aware of all the time that had passed, and to think he'd been working for all of that time… "Does it take that long?"

"For me? Yeah," he said. "You won't see me saying sorry, though. When the time has come, it'll come."

"SPARTANS!" Kratos roared from some distance up the road. "Join me or do not. With or without your help, I am going to rescue Deimos. MAKE YOUR DECISIONS!"

Zack saluted him. "Not to worry, I'm with you all the way." He stretched once again, then followed Kratos.

My decision had been made for me. It wasn't time to leave this world yet. I summoned my Keyblade and held it firmly before me. "Reporting for duty, Lord Kratos," I said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

And we've entered the world of _God of War_. Something had to be afoot for Aqua's return to world travel—something evil, something truly disgusting. And _God of War_, my second favorite PlayStation-brand series after _Kingdom Hearts_ itself, has that in spades. As for _why_ two people of such moral fiber are hanging around with Kratos, you'll have to await the next chapter.


	7. It Shines Deep Within

**Aqua Mortis**

Well, there's an unwelcome development if I ever saw one: a 'Share' tab that puts titles off-center. That's just mean. Somebody's gotta move that.

Also, I must confess, I know nothing about _Final Fantasy_ outside of what's presented on _Kingdom Hearts_. Therefore, I have no idea if my portrayal of Zack will be accurate. But I really like all the characters, and I'm just gonna swing with it! I feel pretty natural about the direction I'm taking him in.

**It Shines Deep Within**

Kratos, Zack, and I walked along a dusty trail leading up to the colossal stone gates of Sparta.

"At the temple of Ares, we shall find our answers," Kratos said. "Come."

Through the bustling streets, we saw peddlers and street performers, and everywhere, soldiers were patrolling.

"Glory be to Sparta!" someone called out, pointing to Kratos. "All hail the God of War!"

Behind a cart, a Moogle turned to face us. "So you've returned to Sparta, kupo," it said. "You will never be a true replacement for Ares, kupo. There will only be _one_ God of War, you traitorous usurper, kupo."

Kratos grabbed the Moogle by its pompom and flung it against the wall with enough force to break its neck. The creature was already dead, but Kratos wasn't finished. He picked it up and pounded it into the ground once again, then stomped on its face. All that remained of the tiny merchant was a heap of blood and fur.

"…Wow," Zack said quietly.

"Blasphemy and personal disrespect," I said simply. "And come on, like you've never wanted to do that to one of those swindlers."

"Yeah, but they're always holographic," Zack said sadly.

"There, see?" I said.

We were rationalizing. Around Kratos, I'd had to do a lot of that, and Zack was clearly familiar with the concept as well.

Kratos continued to march forward. Ahead of us was what appeared to be the largest building in Sparta, which was disappointing when its function became clear. The building was brightly painted and curtained, and outside its front doors a number of topless women beckoned to people passing by.

"Oh, Lord Kratos," one said seductively. "Come play with us, my lord."

Without a word, Kratos picked up three of the girls and stepped behind the brightly-colored curtains.

Zack checked out the remaining girls, then quickly looked to me, wondering what I thought.

I sighed. "He's always doing that."

"Yeah, he is," Zack said. "No point trying to interrupt him when he's getting his brothel on. Let's, uh, get over here and wait for him."

He pulled two red apples out of his pocket and tossed one to me. We hoisted ourselves to the top of a wall, sitting side by side. I bit into the sweet red apple, looking up at Sparta's unusually blue sky.

"So, Aqua," Zack said. "You're a Keyblade wielder, aren't you?"

"Yeah," I said.

"I didn't know what that meant the first time we met," Zack said. "Then it all came out in the open, all these great crusaders of light going around the worlds. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah," I said again. "…Cool."

"Let me ask you something," Zack said, "if you protect the light, then… forgive me, but… what are you doing hanging out with a guy like Kratos?"

I got what he was asking. "Well, when I first arrived, it _was_ his darkness that caused me to seek him out. My intent had been to eradicate him, but I quickly realized that there's so much more to him than that. A powerful light is within him."

"Really? Kratos?" Zack said skeptically. "The guy whose first impulse when he sees a Hydra is to throw somebody down its throat?"

"Well, you gotta look closely, 'cause it's _way_ in there," I clarified.

"That doesn't make any sense, Aqua," Zack said, suddenly serious. "That's no excuse. I mean, come on. Everyone has light, the same way that everyone has darkness."

"There are exceptions," I said. "But I know what you mean. You see, even though it is hidden, the light in Kratos' heart is very strong. And I believe that with the right kind of nurturing, it can come back. That's why I've been staying close to him for all these months… you know, had nothing better to do. And you?"

"Hmm?" Zack said. "Oh, why do I…? Well, stuff happens around Kratos. Big, _epic_ stuff." He scratched the back of his head, looking a bit guilty. "I want to be around for that. If I can participate in these events, without getting _too_ close, to, you know, _him_… well, maybe that'll close the gap between me and 'hero'."

I tapped his knee. "You can do it."

"You think so?" he said.

"I'm certain," I said. "I know you."

The two of us held eye contact for a few moments after that. Finally, I coughed and turned away.

"He almost makes you feel sorry for him," Zack said. "Kratos, I mean. He hasn't exactly had an easy life leading up to this. Do you know the reasons behind his tattoo, and why his skin is so dry and dusty?"

"Yes," I said. "The tattoo is in the image of his brother's birthmark, and his skin is covered in the ashes of his wife and daughter."

Zack silently congratulated me, as if knowing these morbid details was some sort of accomplishment…

"Kratos and I are comrades, we have no secrets," I said. "I know his dark past, he knows that I came here from another world."

"Yeah? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Eh, I don't care," I muttered. "I don't think the rules are important anymore. I just do what I think in my heart is right. I'm a lot like Kratos in that way."

I took another bite of my apple. In a long moment of silence, I tried to keep myself occupied and interested simply by looking at my knees and shoes.

"Something happened to Terra and Ven, huh?" Zack said suddenly.

My head snapped up to him. "What?"

"I can tell, something is missing in your life," he said. "I remember in the world where we first met, you wanted _them_ more than anything. Did you ever get to be with them again?"

My face contorted in anguish. "Over the past twenty years, I've been with them for maybe an hour," I said.

"That's awful," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I'm looking for them now. I don't know if I have a chance."

"Aw, sure you do," he said. "There's always a chance. I know _you_."

Why was my heart pounding? I'd just said that very thing to him. Did I affect _him_ this much? No, not likely.

Kratos came down the street, gesturing for us to join him. "It is time," he said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

In the mountains outside of Sparta, a path led us to a temple, recognizable by the 100-foot statue of a mad-looking, full-bearded man.

"Ah, my Lord Kratos!" a man called. "You have arrived just in time! We are rebuilding this temple in _your_ glory, my lord!"

A group of men pulled at the ropes around the giant statue, and it shattered against the stone. Kratos led us into the depths of the temple. More statues of the same man were located throughout.

"Ares," Zack said. "Kratos worshipped him… then he hated him…"

"Then murdered him," I said. "And now, he _is_ him."

"Damn," Zack muttered. "Like I said, hard life."

At the very end, Kratos stepped up to a mirror, looking intensely at his reflection. A white mist seeped from a crack in the mirror, and Kratos was overtaken by a vision. I knew this because Zack and I shared in this ghost of his past.

_A teenaged Kratos sparred with a much younger boy. Each used the traditional Spartan gear of a spear and shield, and they both wore light togas. Kratos' brother had red, blotchy patterns along his face, exactly where the adult Kratos had his tattoo._

_Kratos and Deimos clashed their shields together, pushing for a few moments until Deimos fell to the ground. Kratos held the spear to Deimos' throat._

_"A Spartan warrior never lets his back hit the ground!" the young Kratos declared. "Even in death, a Spartan stands tall for battle! You are a Spartan, are you not?"_

_"Y-yes, Kratos," the younger boy said nervously, flinching away from the spear._

_Kratos withdrew his spear and helped his brother to his feet. They clasped their hands together firmly, then gasped when flaming arrows filled the sky, digging into the ground and every surface they reached. A wooden support beam on a nearby cart tipped over, pinning Kratos to the ground._

_Two figures came out of the smoke in the streets. One was Ares. The other was Athena._

_"Take the marked one," Athena said._

_Ares picked up Deimos and hoisted him over his shoulder. He then drew his sword and advanced towards Kratos._

_"No!" Athena said. "Father said to take only the marked one!"_

_"There is much you do not understand, Athena," Ares growled. But he sheathed his sword and retreated. Athena looked pityingly at the prone form of Kratos, struggling under the weight of the heavy beam._

_"Forgive me," she said. She turned to follow Ares._

_"Kratos, save me!" Deimos called. "Help!"_

_Kratos reached out for Deimos as the two Olympians vanished into the smoke._

_"Kratos? Deimos?" came a woman's voice. "Where are you? Come home, my sons!"_

All of our minds rushed back to reality. Kratos leaned against the mirror in shame.

"Did we _all_ just see that?" Zack asked.

"Yes," I said.

I wanted to provide some comfort to Kratos, but… how do you set at ease a heart that's almost pure rage?

"You were a good brother," I finally said.

He didn't respond, but he began to inspect the edges of the mirror. He rammed his shoulder into it, shattering the glass.

For him, that was a remarkably calm action.

And there was method behind it, for behind the mirror was a chamber, containing the deformed, horned skull of some humanoid creature.

"The Skull of Keres," Kratos said. "This is the key we need to release Deimos from his prison."

He turned around, walking—well, practically charging—out of the temple. Zack and I caught up to him at the entrance, where he resumed a normal pace.

"Where _is_ Deimos, anyway?" Zack asked.

"The Domain of Death," Kratos replied.

Zack and I paused. We hadn't known that. The task at hand had instantly become much bigger than we had thought.

"Well, then," I said. "I guess that's where we're going."


	8. Written All Over

**Aqua Mortis**

A thank you to the anonymous reviewers who've contributed! It's always nice to get a review. Someday _everyone_ will read my fanfiction… AND I WILL RULE THE WORLD!

_Is this chapter edited for quality? Oh yeah. You bet. Check this out right here._

**Written All Over**

We had been trudging for hours through the icy Aroanian mountains. The wind bit at us, bent on making us turn and give up, but the three of us had all had our fair share of torturous experiences; the cold didn't bother us. Or at least I assumed that to be the case with Zack; regardless, he had no complaints.

Kratos led us into an icy cave, and paused to inspect a pool of water from which a light steam was rising. Acting without explaining, as he often did, Kratos dove into the water and didn't return.

"Some kind of tunnel?" Zack said. "Jeez, when he comes out into the open air he'll freeze to death in a second."

"He has his magic," I said. "It'll keep him warm. Come on, we'll follow."

"Shall I?" Zack said, stepping forward with his eyes on me.

"No, I'll go first," I said.

I dove in, feeling myself blindly sinking, and I opened my eyes with no trouble at all. The water was warm, and as Zack had suspected, a tunnel led off to beyond the back wall of the cave before opening above once again.

My lungs were already demanding fresh air, and I swam as fast as I could to the other end, my wet clothes slowing me down. My head broke the surface and after taking my first breath, I treaded water and looked around at a very different environment: a torch-lit cave, with walls that were flaked with dust and a poorly-defined path that wound downwards.

I heaved myself out and shivered as I drew my Keyblade. "Light," I commanded through chattering teeth.

Warmth spread over me, drying off my clothes and my skin. The sudden, jarring comfort was like a drug, and I sighed deeply, my eyes closed. Only when I heard Zack burst out of the water behind me did I finally return to the moment. "Light," I said again, pointing my blade to Zack. His dampened hair stuck back up as he dried off instantly, giving me a grateful smile.

Kratos was waiting for us some distance along the tunnel, and quickly turned around once he saw we were joining him.

"We have found an entrance to the Underworld," Kratos informed us in his low growl. "We must remain on the fringes, however. Hades will take notice if we enter _his_ domain."

"Hades?" I said, turning to Zack.

"Different guy," he said. "God of the Underworld and so on, but not necessarily malevolent."

"Hmm," I said. "That's so odd… maybe that's part of being a god. You can travel to different worlds, have different identities."

"Could be," Zack said. "But I've seen statues, heard their reputations. The pantheon's the same—Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, all those guys—but they're _very_ different people. If they are extensions of the same entities, they don't know it."

The tunnels deepened, black soot being stirred beneath our feet at every step. At a nexus, the torchlight was gleaming off of something so bright that we had to squint at it.

"It's…" Zack muttered. "It's a girl. A golden statue of a girl."

Kratos bent down to examine it, not touching it. The girl appeared to be curled up in fear on the ground, her face pleading.

"Look," I said, pointing at something that had caught my eye. In the cave that led to our immediate right, golden footprints were leading away.

"Strange," Zack said. "Kratos, is this where we should be going?"

Kratos got to his feet and looked at the trail. "Yes," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Yes, it is."

And we followed it. Occasionally the footprints would be accompanied by a golden handprint against a nearby wall, as if whoever was leaving them, whoever had this golden touch, was stumbling erratically through the Underworld.

"Hey, a golden treasure chest," Zack said as we rounded a bend. The large chest was tucked into a corner.

"Score," I said. I tapped the lock with my Keyblade, but it didn't open. Puzzled, I tried again.

"LET ME!" Kratos snarled, stepping up to it. He gripped the edges of the chest lid and heaved, but only succeeded in overturning it, still closed.

"It's fused shut," I said. "There's no lid to open."

"That's odd," Zack said. "Well… let's just go on, then, and—WAUGH!"

Zack jumped in surprise and brandished his sword. Right around the corner was an enormously fat, half-naked giant with sharp teeth and a single eye—a Cyclops. I'd faced several of them on this world, and Kratos had a method of finishing them off that had become renowned as a trademark of his—he would peel open its eyelid and jam his blade straight into its bulging eye.

We were all three prepared for battle, but quickly realized that this Cyclops, like the young girl and the treasure chest, was nothing but a gold statue along the trail of footprints.

"This is… peculiar," I finally said.

"It's getting that way," Zack agreed.

Kratos made his way past us and froze in his tracks. The path had led us to a sheer cliff. Right under Kratos' toes, the drop led straight to a huge pool of molten rock, its red light illuminating an old man, tattered and thin despite the golden crown on his head.

"Stay back!" the man called to us. "Stay back! Don't you see? Everything I touch… gold." He touched a rock on the ground next to where he was sitting, and it became gold instantly. "Gold," he said again, looking up at us desperately. "Stay away!"

Kratos narrowed his eyes. "Midas?" he whispered.

"My poor daughter," the old king muttered. "My… my…" He stopped, then blinked, looking around at something.

"What's wrong with him?" Zack said.

"I… I think he's hallucinating," I said. "Wait, let me try something…"

I opened my heart and extended it over to Midas. I saw through his eyes, a vision of a much darker cavern and a winding river.

"The River Styx?" Midas was muttering to himself. "Am I in Tarterus? I must be… Yes. I know now what I must do."

He dipped his hand into the river… the river that wasn't there, the river that I knew to be a pool of lava.

"NO!" I shrieked, snapping back into my own mind.

It was too late. Midas howled, clutching the red-hot stump that had once been his hand. As he ran away from us, bellowing in pain, the surface of the lava pool became a solid mass of gold.

"Sheesh, poor guy," Zack said. "Is there anything we can do to help him?"

"His mind is long gone," I said. "I don't think his madness can be overcome."

"Come along," Kratos ordered. He hurled himself bodily off the edge of the cliff, landing with a resounding thud on the golden lake that Midas had created, denting its lumpy surface. Zack followed with an elegant jump, landing neatly on his feet, and I glided down to them slowly with the power I had long ago obtained from Peter Pan.

The caverns were more open and high-ceilinged now, and Midas' trail was still visible glinting off the light from several lava flows spaced around us. We gave them a wide berth.

"Check it out," Zack said, pointing. "Up there, it's a way out."

I followed his gaze. It was far above us, along an outcropping of rock. Beneath that was a boulder-strewn climb, easily traversable, which could be reached by a stone ramp starting from… oh no…

The lava flow nearest us was fed by a vertical wall of lava being fed from a tiny cave on a cliff face, pouring down like a waterfall. The lava fall blocked the only way to get to the ramp.

"How are we gonna get _there_?" I demanded.

I stared hard and tried to come up with some kind of solution, some way to continue without all three of us being incinerated. Looking around, I registered nothing special apart from the footprints of Midas.

"I have a plan," Kratos said suddenly. "Follow me."

He stormed off in his usual fluid rage, following Midas' tracks. The mad king was curled up in a corner, sobbing and staring at his missing hand.

Zack and I stood at Kratos' flanks as he approached Midas. "What are we going for here, big guy?" Zack asked.

Kratos held up a hand to silence Zack. As we stood over him, Midas seemed to notice us and waved his stump wildly.

"Stay away," he said. "Leave me alone."

Kratos picked Midas up. The frail little man struggled, and in his panic, reached his remaining hand straight out to Kratos' face. Kratos grabbed him by the wrist, forcing him away, then punched him in the face, knocking him out. Kratos whirled Midas over his shoulder, careful not to let the man's hand touch him.

"Come," he said to Zack and me.

He paused, his face tightening at the sound of growls coming from the shadows, accompanied by the small dots of glowing white eyes. They belonged to huge, malformed black wolves who began to creep over to us and observe us.

"Hellhounds," Zack said.

"Fend them off," Kratos said. "My attention must remain on Midas."

"Check," I said, producing my blade. At the sight of it, the hellhounds lunged for us.

I kicked one away and whirled onto another, taking it out. Zack performed a vicious offensive spin, keeping most of the hellhounds at bay. Any who came close could be heard whining in pain before they faded into black smoke.

Zack stopped his spin, bobbing on his heels as he caught his breath, eyeing the surrounding hounds.

"Zack!" I called to him, aiming a fireball at a hound who was coming up behind him. It faded away as the others had when they were defeated.

Zack nodded thanks to me. "Keep them away from Kratos," he said.

The hounds were menacing our leader, and together we charged them, slashing through them with such efficiency that often a single blow was all it took to turn them to dust.

My hands seemed ready to blister on the hilt of my Keyblade, but I knew it would never leave my grasp. Sweating, I kept to my usual routine of mixing magical and physical attacks. Even more of the misshapen dogs were emerging from cracks in the cavern walls, drooling, their white eyes burning with their hunger for us.

Zack and I stayed huddled on either side of Kratos, and when the pack of hellhounds began to come at us, we began to methodically rotate around him. One of us would bat a hellhound away, and by the time it came back around, the other would have circled around far enough to finish it off. Sword and Keyblade whirled and jabbed, while the teeth and claws of hellhounds cut at us. We worked through the pain, and soon, all of them were gone. And Kratos, carrying the unconscious Midas, had a clear path ahead of him.

"Well done, Zack," I said.

"You too," he said. "We fight well together. It's like we were custom-built for it, you and me." He grinned.

My face heated up. "You…" I stammered. "You've gotta stop saying stuff like that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said. "All that blood rushing to your cheeks all the time might not be healthy."

I put my gloved hand to my face and tried to stifle my giggle. I'm not sure if I succeeded.

Hoping to divert Zack's gaze from its firm lock on me, I looked over to Kratos, who was standing at the edge of the lake of lava that was fed by the falls. Midas was once again conscious, his fingers clawing at the ground as Kratos held him by the ankle.

"What's he up to?" Zack wondered.

And Kratos, with a mighty pump of his arms, flung Midas straight into the lava fall.

"KRATOS!" I shrieked in shock.

Midas screamed as he flew through the air, then hit the vertical wall of magma with a splash, and the entire thing became gold, including Midas himself, his terrified face sticking out of the otherwise smooth surface.

"_What did you just do_?" I demanded of Kratos in shrill tones.

He drew his blades and walked across the golden surface. He jammed a blade into the now-gold lava fall, and it gave in quickly.

"We can climb up the gold and reach the ramp," Kratos said. "We can then make our way to the exit."

I was shaking in my surprise and fear. "I don't approve of your methods, Kratos," I said.

He glared at me. "I couldn't care less what you think, Aqua." He used his two blades to climb the wall, thoroughly ignoring me and Zack as we stared up at him.

Zack scoffed. "Doesn't disappoint, does he? Same old Kratos."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Whatever the means, he gets to his ends."

"Damn right he does. Let's ditch him." He turned to stroll away, and I grabbed him.

"Now, now, come on," I said. "I'm going to finish what I've started here. I can't… not. I can't, in good conscience, leave this world with my commitments unfinished."

Zack turned around to face me, then watched Kratos taking the golden ascent.

"All right," he said. "If that's what _you_ want."

We began to climb, using the notches that Kratos' blades had left behind.

"I just hate how upset you were," Zack said. "Your shock and anger… how you yelled, and… that _face_. I just can't hang with someone who could cause you to make such a wounded face. I've half a mind to mess Kratos up for that."

"I'm flattered, Zack," I said. "You're very sweet." I realized I was turning red again.

"Now _that_ face I like," he said, smirking.

I laughed. "Well… the thing is, Kratos can do whatever he wants." I gave a wide berth to the remnants of Midas as we continued our climb. "Because I don't care what _he_ thinks either. No matter what, I care for him very deeply."

Zack was silent for a moment. I looked over at him, to see his face lost in thought.

"You care for him," he said. It wasn't a request for confirmation, simply a statement.

"Yes," I said.

"Well, those are some powerful words," he said. "You don't mean that he's… like, dating material, do you?"

"What?" I said, alarmed. "I wouldn't…"

"'Cause, you know, I asked first," he said, winking at me.

My heart pounded. Why did it _do_ that? It never acted up in front of anybody else… the idea of being betrayed by my own heart didn't exactly give me confidence in my abilities as a Keyblade Master.

"Yeah, well," I said, trying to keep my cool. "In the past twenty years, I'm afraid I haven't really been up on my commitments." I hoisted myself elegantly to the top of the wall, feeling better with ground under my feet.

As I helped Zack up, he said, "In all seriousness, Aqua, since we're both… _here_… why don't we give some discussion to our long-postponed celebration?"

"I… um… I… um… if, if, uh, if I, um…" I couldn't force out a response, and found myself just blinking rapidly. "Maybe we should… just stick to the task at hand, huh Zack?"

He grinned. "Sure thing."

We caught up to Kratos at the foot of the boulder climb.

"What do we do now, my lord?" I asked him, employing a tone of respect with the hope that I could at the very least appease or calm my dangerous and temperamental captain.

"The journey wears upon my bones," Kratos said. "We will rest here. I fear we shall have to find my brother tomorrow."

"Okay," I said. "We'll… we'll do that, then."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

In my sleep, I stood upon the surface of my own heart. Terra knelt down to the pictures of all of the friends I had come to know, and smiled up at me, pointing to a new portrait, one of Kratos.

"I should congratulate you, Aqua," he said. "All the friends you've made. Every friend you meet is an extra addition to your heart."

"Friends," I said quietly. "Yeah… I guess, if anybody at all can form a bond of friendship with a man like Kratos…"

"Then you're the one who can pull it off," Terra said. "You can accomplish anything, Aqua. You were friends with _me_, after all, and I had darkness out the wazoo."

"You didn't—" I began to object.

Terra laughed. "I did. Don't pretend."

"Oh, Terra," I said. "I've missed your smile so much. From the day we left our home, you never smiled."

"I have a reason to be happy," he said. "You're back in the Realm of Light."

I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. The giant skull which had taunted me was at the edge of the platform, facing away from us.

"Don't worry about him," Terra said.

"What _is_ he?" I muttered.

"It's not important," Terra said. He looked into the sparkling "sky", as it were, of my heart, and I could have sworn I heard music, an angelic chorus of some kind.

Terra got to his feet. "Dance with me, Aqua?" he said.

"Oh… sure," I said, taking his hand. "I'd love to."

He pulled me close, and we swayed gently in the bright light. I remembered some of our days off at the Land of Departure, when we would elect to put down the Keyblade for a time and simply dance.

The sensation was different now; on the one hand, this wasn't real. It was a dream, or a vision, or… whatever it was, it was obviously not taking place in the physical world.

And yet, I had never felt so close to him.

"I love you so much, Terra," I said sadly.

"I love you," Terra said. "And it's that love that keeps us alive." He leaned his forehead against mine. "I'll always be your brother," he said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sometime later, I opened my eyes. Zack and Kratos were leaning against the stone wall, carrying a quiet conversation.

"…_Brother_?" I said out loud.

The men paused and looked down at me. I cleared my throat.

"Um, _your_ brother," I clarified, nodding respectfully to Kratos. "I'm, um… we've got to find him…"

I stood up, gathering my bedroll. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yep," Zack said.

I dwelled on the last words of my encounter with Terra. Was that how he saw us? What did it mean?


	9. Traveling an Unknown Path

**Aqua Mortis**

For any reader in the know about _God of War_, you might know that most of the events of the past three chapters were based thoroughly on the plot of _God of War: Ghost of Sparta_. However, I simply had to include a scene with my very favorite _God of War_ character, Atlas! Now, I've never actually played _God of War II_, which is the only game in which he has a huge role; I merely came to appreciate him from his brief appearance in _Chains of Olympus_. Therefore, the scene that follows fits under the category of "making stuff up".

**Traveling an Unknown Path**

The three of us delved deeper into the Underworld. The black-gray surface we were walking was curiously soft and lumpy, sloping downward. Though we were underground, the cavern was so spacious that it had its own atmosphere, a burning-red sky. Harpies and phoenixes could be heard screeching in the distance. Unearthly wails, horrid as anything in Kratos' world.

"Where are we?" Zack asked.

"We walk along the prison of Atlas," Kratos said.

"Atlas?" I repeated. "Who—?"

I couldn't hold back my scream as he turned towards us. I'd never seen anything so terrifying as Atlas.

Atlas was a man. A man the size of a mountain. The colossal head looking at us was made of black stone, with angry red eyes glowering, eyes bigger than any of us. He cracked his neck as he turned, his firm jaw rubbing against a surface some distance in front of us, which I realized was his shoulder. We had descended his arm and were currently standing on his bicep.

"Who are you, insects?" Atlas growled.

Taking in my surroundings with a new understanding, I saw that Atlas was hunched beneath the ceiling of the cavern, standing atop a pillar. His four bulging arms, including the one on which we were standing, were bent at the elbow and facing up, his palms pressed against the ceiling as if he was trying to push the entire surface world upward.

"Kratos!" Atlas realized. "You dare return?" Our surroundings clattered and rumbled with the force of his voice. "You dare come to me again after what you have done to me?"

Kratos sneered, but Zack pushed past him and glared at Atlas without fear. "All Kratos did here is save the world," he said. "You're the sap who was tricked into helping destroy it." He smirked. "And now you keep it aloft. It fits, doesn't it?"

Was that true? Yes, I realized. Atlas was, in fact, the only thing separating the earth from the Underworld, pushing them apart.

The super-giant beheld Zack, then looked back at Kratos. "Who is this? Another slave of Olympus?"

"I AM SLAVE TO NO ONE, ATLAS!" Kratos bellowed. "THE GODS HAVE TAKEN MY BROTHER, AND FOR THIS THEY WILL PAY!"

Atlas thought about that calmly, then closed his eyes, seeming to pass energy to Kratos. "You are an Olympian," he said, opening his eyes in surprise. "You walk among the gods and yet you intend to betray them… perhaps Gaia and the Oracle spoke true, perhaps you are the one destined to free Titan-kind."

"I CARE NOTHING FOR YOU AND YOUR KIND!" Kratos roared.

"It is not up to you," Atlas said. "The Fates have determined the course of your life, and they have made it so."

"The Fates themselves said something similar before I murdered them," Kratos retorted.

Zack looked surprised, and I realized that he had missed out on this recent event of Kratos' life. "That's actually a really good story," I whispered to him.

Atlas seemed surprised as well, but recovered. "Very well then," he said. "If you would see the gods suffer, I have power to offer you, if you wish it."

Kratos didn't respond.

"Present your blades to me," Atlas said. He nodded to Zack. "You as well, Spartan."

"Okay," Zack said, grinning. He drew his sword while Kratos presented his wicked blades.

Atlas stared hard at the blades. Two crackling beams of red lightning shot from Atlas' eyes straight to the two men and their weapons. In a matter of seconds, all the energy had been transferred into their weapons, which instantly burst into blood-red fire.

Zack barked out a laugh. "Oh yeah!" he said, swinging the weapon experimentally. The flame swirled around it.

Kratos snuffed out the flames on his weapons with a twitch of his wrists, then brought them back, then extinguished them again. On and off with a thought.

The fire vanished from Zack's sword as well, and he nodded to Atlas in appreciation.

"If you seek the brother who was taken from you, climb to my feet and follow that path," Atlas said.

"Thank you, Atlas," I said, feeling the need to interject for the first time.

He ignored me, his gaze now firmly on Kratos. "You and I both suffer unjust penance," he said. "You have been punished by the gods for your devotion to them. And I… I must bear the world on my shoulders until the end of time. As an immortal, I have accepted my fate, but you…"

Kratos actually hesitated as he continued along Atlas' body, looking up at the Titan's face.

"Word tells that no one has seen you smile since you were taken yet again from your dead daughter," Atlas rumbled. "Think of your sins, Kratos. No matter how many times you die, you will never again see Elysium. The frolicking, pure heart of Calliope will never again belong to you. You know this truth. Accept it," he finished, his stony lips curling into a bitter smile.

"DON'T MOCK ME!" Kratos' voice cracked suddenly, and he instantly lunged at Atlas.

Atlas flinched away just in time to avoid getting the blades directly to his face. With a frustrated bellow, Kratos leapt back, and Atlas shook his body, dislodging the three of us.

"No… NO!" I shrieked, losing my footing and falling, the immeasurable distance down Atlas' body. Above me, I saw Atlas adjusting his hold on the ceiling of the Underworld so he could support it in only three of his arms. With his fourth, he reached out to catch Kratos, Zack, and me as we fell.

The fingers, each one taller than many of the towers I had seen, curled around us. He would have crushed us in his fist, but Kratos strained and with the might of his entire body, managed to force the fingers apart.

I flattened my back against the surface of Atlas' hand, and rushing toward us was his mountainous knee. He was going to slap his own knee in the effort to crush us there instead.

Kratos drove a blade into Atlas' palm, then released its chain. Zack took Kratos by the ankle, and both of them dropped out of sight, swinging straight toward the oncoming leg. As Kratos reeled in his blade, disconnecting it from Atlas' stony flesh to drop into a free-fall, Zack swung around to the Titan's hamstring, driving his sword into the muscle all the way to the hilt. Zack slid down the Titan's calf, leaving a straight, clean scratch behind.

I was too captivated to realize I was about to be crushed. Thankfully, I figured it out just in time and I took the jump, hurtling through the air as mere feet behind me Atlas' hand collided with his knee.

And I glided down, meeting Zack and Kratos on the top of the pillar where Atlas stood. The Titan was now blindly trying to stomp on us, apparently not letting Kratos' completely provoked attack go unpunished.

We ran, to the walkway leading away from the pillar, where Atlas would be forced to watch and unable to pursue. But upon a final, hopeless stomp that very nearly caught us, Kratos roared in rage and turned around to fight.

"Kratos, no!" I yelled.

"Stop him!" Zack cried.

I pointed my Keyblade at Kratos and declared, "Bind!"

He continued to pound forward frantically, but he was stuck in place now. Zack circled around to look him in the eye.

"Easy, there," Zack said. "Think before the next move for like two seconds, would you? If you kill him, the world collapses. Aqua here can get away, but can _you_?"

I joined them. "Just… leave well enough alone, okay Kratos? We're down here for Deimos."

The sound of his brother's name seemed to bring him to sanity at the moment my spell wore off. Without a word, Kratos turned and began to sprint down the walkway.

Zack and I stood at Atlas' feet and looked up at his face hundreds of feet above. "What is _wrong_ with you?" I called to him. "Why would you bait him like that?"

Before he could provide an answer, Zack and I were also running into the distance.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Further and further we traveled, deeper and deeper into Death's Domain. It was along a wide stone bridge, its guardrail practically useless, and overlooking a seemingly bottomless trench, that we heard light cackling coming from all sides. We tensed up.

"Satyrs," Zack said.

"Um… really?" I said. That didn't sound too menacing.

"Eh, not quite like our old pal Phil," Zack clarified.

Sure enough, the laughing beasts dropped from the ceiling. They were lanky, with skeletal goat heads. Some of them carried three daggers in each hand, others were casually tossing primitive grenades up and down, waiting to chuck them at us.

"Well," Zack said. "Nothin' for it but to GET 'EM!"

Kratos charged forward. He slackened his grip on his blades and spun around, forming a chaotic cyclone that hacked down a number of the creatures. More of them were waiting above, to drop in on us. Zack's mighty sword slashed through the air… and it was on fire. Any of the satyrs left alive after Zack's charge had only a matter of seconds before they exploded.

I whipped up some enchantments to keep myself protected before entering the fray myself. I danced around some of the taunting monsters, taunting them back before surging into them, cutting down one after another after—

One of them launched a flaming grenade, blasting me back, right off the edge of the stone bridge. As I said, the guardrails? Useless.

I tried to upright myself to perform my Doubleflight power, but it only took me so far. Any handhold I had was out of reach, and I plummeted into the gorge, a gorge from which there would be no return…

"AQUA!" From above, I heard the frantic voice of… wait… was that Kratos?

Indeed it was, as over the edge of the bridge, a blade on a chain was launched toward me as if from a rocket, flung with Kratos' sheer, godly strength. As the blade passed me, I grabbed hold of a chain, and as Kratos reeled me in, I swung outward, level with Kratos and then above him by force of momentum.

Satyrs were closing in on Kratos from all sides, but his eyes were firmly on me. I attacked with Prism Rain, targeting every single one of them. The rainbow-colored bolts of energy knocked them all of their feet, and finally faded into black smoke… like monsters _should_.

I let go of Kratos' chain and cartwheeled through the air, landing on my feet between them.

"Thank you," I said to Kratos. "Thank you so much. You saved my life."

"Yes, well," Kratos said. "You have served me, for many months. I could not leave your loyalty unpaid."

"No, Lord Kratos," I said. "This doesn't have anything to do with loyalty or obligations. We're friends."

"Friends," Kratos repeated through his eternal scowl.

"Seriously, man," Zack said, stepping across our now-empty battlefield. "That was really admirable, Kratos. I'd forgotten that you could… be that way. It's nice. And we're gonna find your brother."

"Yes," Kratos said. "WE _WILL_ FIND MY BROTHER! I SHALL KEEP MY PROMISE, AND—"

"Um, Kratos?" Zack said, beginning to curl into his routine squats. "I know it's technically a cave, but, come on, inside voice."

Kratos glowered, and I burst into laughter. Zack did too, and Kratos… well, he didn't smile, exactly, but he did gaze away wistfully.

"With my brother at my side…" Kratos said. "Perhaps I can escape the torment of my nightmares. And together, we will live, free of our pasts and free to pursue any future we desire. And STOP DOING SQUATS! BY THE GODS, ARE YOU _TRYING_ TO DRIVE ME MAD?"

At his yell, Zack froze in mid-squat and stared at Kratos fearfully. I broke out in the giggles once again—I couldn't help it.

"We should move on," Kratos said. "Deimos is near, very near. I can feel it."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

Okay, one more Kratos chapter after this, and then we'll be moving along to other worlds.

And to my latest reviewer, Sakura088, glad you're enjoying yourself. Hope you stick around. I'm interested in how it'll play out as well! Hehe. But if you're looking for depth, I honestly think I'm as good a writer as I'm ever going to be.


	10. The Domain of Death

**Aqua Mortis**

Hmm… for the first time, I don't have anything to put between the title and the chapter title. Oh, wait, that's something right there.

**The Domain of Death**

Kratos broke into a sprint, the cobblestone path we were now travelling sloping upward. An enormous plant growth blocked an oncoming archway, but Kratos ignited his blades and charged right through it. Zack and I followed.

In the next room, a man hung from the ceiling. His arms were wrapped in gigantic, metal gauntlets, holding his arms above his head as he dangled from heavy chains.

"DEIMOS!" Kratos called frantically. The hanging figure didn't answer.

Deimos looked very much like his brother, or at least had his exact shape: seven feet tall with bulging muscles all over. But Deimos had thick, wooly black hair and beard, and his skin not only lacked the sickly powder of Kratos', but was a leathery brown. His left eye had gone milky, blind; and splashed across that eye was a birthmark, swooping around his body in exactly the shape of Kratos' tattoo. It was no longer blotchy and red, however, but glowed orange like lava.

Kratos growled and loosened the chain on one of his gauntlets, then thrashed his axe-blade up at those chains bounding Deimos. The right-hand gauntlet snapped out of its chain, and Deimos dropped violently, now hanging from only one arm.

I peered at the remaining shackle, then pointed my Keyblade at its lock. The gauntlet cracked in two, and Deimos dropped to the ground.

Kratos rushed over to the prone figure of his brother. "Deimos," he said. "You are safe now, brother."

Deimos looked at the ground, chuckling. "Safe?" he said. "SAFE?"

His head snapped up to glare at Kratos, with every bit of the mad fury his brother possessed.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT ME!" Deimos bellowed, and I would swear that his swirling birthmark glowed even more powerfully. "DID YOU THINK I WOULD FORGET?"

He pulled Kratos close to growl harshly in his hear. "Did you think… I would forgive? I will _never_ forgive you—brother."

And Deimos pulled back one arm, still encased in his giant metal gauntlet, and launched a mighty punch that hit Kratos like a battering ram.

"No!" I cried. Zack and I rushed in to help.

Deimos continued to beat Kratos over the head with his own shackle, but Kratos crossed his blades together to parry, slashing back at his younger brother.

I cast a barrier around myself and lunged, shoving the enraged Deimos away from Kratos—who was comparatively calm, for the first time in living memory _not_ the angriest person in the room.

Zack gripped his sword in both hands, bracing himself for Deimos' return.

"YOUR LACKEYS WILL NOT SAVE YOU, BROTHER!" Deimos roared.

The gauntlet caught me full in face, blasting me backwards, headfirst into a distant wall.

I crumbled to the ground. The room in front of my eyes swam around, blurring… less than awake, my only thought was that I wished it wouldn't do that, that I wanted it to stop.

The vision blinked in and out. Sometimes I saw the room empty, sometimes I saw Zack running towards me, other times the two Spartan brothers were still locked in combat…

"Aqua," said Zack's voice, the voice seeming to come from nowhere despite his face being just above me. "Aqua, move, please. You're not moving… don't be dead, don't be dead…"

His blurred form came close, and he pressed an ear to my throat, checking for a pulse and breath…

His black hair was in my face, and it tickled my lips and nose. At Zack's proximity, my blood began pumping and my breath came in ragged gasps.

Zack retreated. The physiological effects of my monster crush were proof enough that I was alive, I suppose. But judging by Zack's intense face, he didn't recognize it for what it was, and certainly didn't find humor in the situation.

I blinked, and the room was empty. Then Kratos and Deimos crashed together, tumbling through the back wall. Another blink, and the wall was repaired… then I was faced with the giant skull who lived in my heart, and then Zack again, holding up a finger and moving it back and forth, up and down wildly. I stared into his face, bewildered at this activity.

He came in close, his breath warmly against my face. "Aqua, you're not following my fingers," he said in a frail voice. "Please…"

I imagined that his lips were to mine in a tender kiss, his gloved hands clamped on my shoulders in his prayer for my recovery.

And suddenly, I was perfectly lucid, my mind and all of my senses in perfect focus. It was immediately apparent what was real and what was not. Zack truly was kissing me, my vision obstructed by his face too near to mine, my ears filled with the sounds of battle, but my other senses perfectly satisfied by Zack's scent, his taste, his feel…

"Mm… mm-hmm…" I mumbled around his lips.

He pulled back slowly, looking into my eyes which now could firmly lock onto his.

"Are you okay?" he said.

I nodded. "Mm-hmm," I said, not wanting to move my lips for fear that the lingering electricity might wear off.

Zack moved his finger in front of my face again, and this time I kept my eye on it.

"Zack…" I said.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just… well, I've had these… feelings…"

"It's okay, Zack," I said. "It's… it's really, really okay."

I looked past him. The giant hole in the wall was still there. That part had been real as well, then.

"Kratos," I said, standing up.

"Yeah," Zack agreed. I couldn't detect how he felt about the subject change. It didn't matter at this moment.

The two of us ran towards the hole in the wall. It led to a series of cliffs, as far below us, Deimos continued to beat Kratos to within an inch of his life.

"I HATE YOU, KRATOS!" Deimos bellowed. He pounded his brother with enough force to shatter his gauntlet.

Deimos stared, horrified, at his bare arm—he was now weaponless.

Someone appeared in a burst of darkness, standing over him. The man was even taller than the two brothers, but thin and bony, dressed in a long black robe and with charcoal-textured hair that went past his shoulders. His skin was ghostly white, and his eyes were blank.

"Thanatos," Zack said quickly. "God of Death. This is his turf…"

Thanatos picked up Deimos by the scruff of the neck in his talon-like hand, and glided on his feet to a distant ledge. He then turned to address Kratos.

"You killed my daughter, Spartan," he hissed. "Many years ago in the Mounts of Aroania, you took the life of my Erinys. And now you will suffer for it!"

He sprouted a pair of horrid black wings and dove off the cliff, Deimos in hand.

I knelt down to Kratos' side as he lay face-up on the stone. He was unmoving, his expression remorseful. But he was alive.

"Heal!" I said. He and I were both surrounded by the leafy green aura, and Kratos coughed. I had stopped him an inch from death. He was more alive now, but barely. His wounds were severe and catching up, and I feared they may have been capable of outpacing my curative magic.

"Heal!" I said again. Now, Kratos flipped onto his belly and started crawling toward the cliff where Thanatos had disappeared.

Despite all that had transpired, he was still going after his brother. He and Deimos were still blood, even if they had just covered each other with it. Nothing would stop Kratos seeking the people he cared for.

I knew the feeling.

"Heal!" I declared a third time. "Heal!"

Kratos took a heaving breath and got to his feet. I cried out "Heal!" yet again, and even as I watched his wounds mend I realized I couldn't speak the word anymore, almost as if I had forgotten how. I had drained all of my magic.

But I was a Master. There were alternatives. I gripped my Keyblade in both hands, tight enough on the hilt for it to hurt my hands, and yelled—"HEAL!"

I spoke it, and my mouth dried. I was putting my own energy into the spell, my moisture and nutrients and strength.

Kratos continued to limp forward, and I pursued him with another valiant "Heal!" that drained another portion of my life energy.

My skin paled, and I fought off a brief wave of nausea. It didn't escape Zack's notice.

"Aqua, that's enough, he's fine," he said frantically.

I ignored him. "Heal! Heal! Heal!" I chased Kratos, casting the life-giving wind at him. The third time I engaged the spell, my knees hit the stone with a sharp _crack_.

"AQUA!" Zack trilled. "Don't kill yourself to save—"

Kratos had broken into a run now, and I distinctly saw him build momentum for the purpose of flinging himself over the edge.

"Heal," I whispered, pointing my Keyblade at him one last time for good measure. The arm grasping my Keyblade was limp and bony; I scarcely recognized it as my own. And Kratos was gone; he'd taken the jump.

Zack caught up to me and picked me up, staring in disbelief. "Where exactly did the Keyblade Masters find you?" he demanded. "The suicide hotline?"

I chuckled weakly. "Gotta help him," I said. "We should… follow…"

Zack's retort was halted as Rainfell transformed into my Keyblade Glider.

Zack examined it skeptically. "You can't even stand," he said. "You expect me to believe you can drive?"

"No, I can't," I admitted. "You'll have to pilot it."

He seemed awestruck. "The Keyblade…" he said reverently, gaping at the glider now. "But I've never been given the power… I can't touch it, can I?"

"I'll be on board," I said. "And you have my permission. Just keep your gloves on when you're holding it…"

"Never take 'em off," Zack said with false bravado. He boarded the glider, holding its handlebars uncertainly. I braced myself behind him, planting my feet and gripping with my hands as hard as I could manage.

"Go," I muttered.

The jets flared, and Zack pulled us into a vertical dive. Over the cliffs below, I assessed the situation. As far as I could tell, Thanatos had fled, tossing the two brothers against a cliff face. Deimos dangled helplessly from an outcropping bluff, while Kratos shimmied along the wall as fast as he could.

"I'M COMING FOR YOU, BROTHER!" Kratos roared.

"HURRY, KRATOS!" Deimos bellowed back.

Did he mean that? Did Deimos truly desire his brother's help now?

Kratos made his way to more firm footing, and Zack steered the glider to a spot right underneath, preparing himself to catch Deimos should Kratos not reach him in time.

"I can't hold on much longer," Deimos pleaded.

His grip slid, but his ghostly pale brother gripped his forearm just in time.

"YES!" Zack cried out, clenching a fist in triumph. He flew us up to the level of the cliff.

I uncertainly watched the brothers reunite, not knowing whether or not Deimos' heart still contained murder…

Deimos stared hard, his one working eye still intense. "A Spartan never lets his back hit the ground, right brother?" he said.

"Oh!" I gasped, my face brightening.

Kratos looked over his unarmed brother, then held out his hands, conjuring from nowhere a large circular shield and a great spear—his arms of Sparta.

"Come, brother," he said, passing the arms to Deimos. "The battle is not over."

Zack settled us to the ground, the glider vanishing beneath our feet and returning to my hand as my small and ornate weapon.

"Thanatos will be all over us," Zack said. "We have seconds, at most. We'd better move the battle to more favorable ground."

"This way," Kratos growled.

One side of the outcropping led to the miniscule ledge that Kratos had had to maneuver to get there; but on the other side, there was a fairly open path leading up and around.

The two brothers charged forward like raging bulls, a matched set if I ever saw one. I was still weak, my knees already wobbling from barely a minute of standing erect. Zack grabbed me around the waist, keeping me up. "Come on, Aqua," he whispered. He bounded up the path after Deimos and Kratos, his speed not impeded by my dragging feet.

"Hey, guys, guys!" Zack called, seeming gleeful.

He set me down, and I swayed. Looking ahead, I saw a treasure chest tucked into a cubby along the cliff walls. Zack muscled it open, and a flurry of blue and green orbs flickered through the air.

They were absorbed, into Kratos and Deimos, Zack and me, rejuvenating us, powering us up, bringing us back to full health.

My muscles, rendered cottony by my sacrifice to Kratos, rippled beneath my skin, finely toned as they had been before. The hollowness, the exhaustion, remained—there was nothing for that but a night's sleep and a meal, in whichever order, but thanks to the orbs of life and magic I was well enough to fight.

Along the path, a detour led to an open area, round and flat, spread out before a cliff that overlooked the Underworld's black ocean as well as a spectacular view of some of the other surrounding crags.

"This'll be our arena," I said. "We won't get a better chance."

As we charged out into the open, Thanatos emerged from darkness, appearing before us.

"The Oracle may yet have spoken true," he said. "The marked warrior…" He looked from Deimos to Kratos, smiling evilly. He spread his clawed fingers. "Die, Spartans!" he roared.

It was four of us against him; Keyblade, axe blade, spear, and sword defeated his guard and caused him to double over in pain. He may have been a god, but that was a small challenge to any one of us. Four on one, Thanatos had no chance.

And I think he understood that, because in a matter of seconds he had transformed himself into a gigantic, armored, winged demon. The odds were now, if anything, even.

The demon Thanatos clawed at us, leaving us to nip at its ankles ineffectively. When he dug his claws so deeply into the stone that he couldn't get them out, I took it upon myself to slash at his fingers.

Thanatos beat his huge wings and flew to a distant ledge, hanging there and glaring at us.

Deimos hurled his spear, sticking it into the death god's more vulnerable stomach. The demon's roar of pain was satisfying, but now Deimos had no weapon.

"Deimos!" Kratos called out, reaching out a hand to his brother. Deimos grasped Kratos' forearm.

And with the strength of a god, Kratos threw his lava-marked and perfectly willing brother straight at Thanatos.

"Aqua," Zack said, bending down and forming a step with his hands. I stepped onto his cupped palms and he hurled me as well. My Keyblade jammed into Thanatos' chest, and I dangled there.

Thanatos screeched in pain and took off, flying out over the ocean. I nimbly made my way from his underside to the back of his head, keeping my footing as I had once done on the back of a certain evil black dragon.

Deimos was alongside me, having retrieved the spear, and the two of us banged on the back of the demon's head, in an attempt to turn him around and get him back to our allies.

Deimos dug his spear into its fur, and I followed suit with my Keyblade. With my hands free, I held one out to Deimos and said, "I'm Aqua, by the way."

He shook my hand, and Thanatos rolled in midair, trying to buck us off. We stabilized ourselves by grabbing our weapons, and I sheepishly looked back at him, not sure how to follow up the introduction.

"Your brother is a good man," I decided.

Thanatos was hurtling himself through the air back toward the cliff where Zack and Kratos waited. He gripped the edge with his claws, the stone being torn away. Deimos and I leapt off his head to join our friends in front of his face.

Or I did. Deimos was grabbed by Thanatos, clutched tightly in his steel claws, and smashed repeatedly into the wall.

I screamed as Deimos was shattered upon the cliffside. No one, man or god, could survive that level of crushing.

Deimos tumbled and clattered to the ground. I glanced at Kratos to see his reaction, and he immediately set his weapons ablaze, screaming with rage as he advanced on Thanatos.

"Well spoken," Zack said solemnly. He too set the flames dancing around his sword. He turned to me. "We've got this," he said. "Help Deimos." And he charged.

I turned my back on the fight, running to Deimos' side. I examined his broken form, and pressed my hand to his heart. It was gone, departed. Deimos was already lost, where no magic could save him.

I turned around. Thanatos had been forced back into his human form, while the enraged Kratos pressed him against a wall and stabbed him viciously in the stomach.

"Your suffering will never end," Thanatos rasped, "Ghost of Sparta."

He faded into black smoke that blew away on the breeze. Zack was now standing near me, looking at the collapsed Deimos, and then up at me, a question in his eyes. I nodded to him sadly.

Kratos understood without looking at either of us. He stepped up to his brother's body and picked him up, walking back up the trail, Zack and I at his heels.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

On the highest cliff, a tall and thin man with a spade had just finished digging a pit.

"Who—?" Zack demanded, but I shushed him in a feathery whisper.

Kratos didn't seem at all perturbed by this man's presence. He gently set Deimos into the hole, and stuck the arms of Sparta, both spear and shield, into the ground as a grave marker. The thin man began filling in the hole almost immediately.

Kratos noticed three other spots of turned earth, three grave markers. "Calliope," he said, touching a wooden flute hanging from a post. "Mother," he added, spotting the second marker, then: "My love," he said, quieter still at the final one.

Zack and I exchanged looks, first with each other and then at the mysterious gravedigger.

I approached Kratos as he gazed wistfully out at the ocean. He rocked softly on his feet, muttering something. I didn't know what to say to him, so I hoped my mere presence was a comfort.

It was a stroke of luck that I was looking at my feet, and in the periphery saw _his_ feet. He was about to step right off the cliff.

"Kratos, no!" I said. I pushed him away from the cliff, and he growled at me. "Don't do it, Kratos," I said frantically. "I… I know you feel alone, and frightened… but… but…" I stammered, stumbling over my own tongue. "But Kratos, I don't want you to die," I said firmly. "And… that's reason enough to live, isn't it? Just one person?"

"Yeah," Zack said in a high-pitched voice. He cleared his throat, then continued normally. "Yeah," he said. "Me and Aqua, we'll—we'll be your family." His voice cracked again around the tears.

Kratos glanced at Zack, then turned back to me. "What have I become?" he asked softly.

"Death," the gravedigger replied. "The destroyer of worlds."

My eyes flickered to the old man. I put a gentle hand on Kratos' shoulder. "You don't have to be that," I said.

A portal of light opened beside us. A woman in white robes, with gold bands stretched around her head and arms, stepped out. I recognized her from her statue and Kratos' childhood memories: Athena.

"Your ties to the mortal world have been severed," she said to Kratos. "You are now ready to become a god."

She lifted her hands to Kratos' head, which he bowed. Power flowed from Athena to Kratos, and as soon as it was done, Kratos threw Athena's arms away, glaring at her.

"IS THIS ALL A GAME TO YOU?" he roared. He stomped past her, toward the portal, and turned to snarl at her again. "This isn't over, Athena," he said. "The gods will pay for what they have done."

"Forgive me," Athena said quietly.

Kratos turned around.

"Good—" I called out, but he was gone already, vanished into the mirrored surface, beyond which Olympus was visible. "…Bye," I finished softly.

Athena heard, and looked to me and Zack. "You are Zack Fair," she said. "And you, Aqua."

"Yes, my lady," I said, giving a slight bow.

"Yes," Zack said quietly.

"I want to thank you, mortals," Athena said. "For watching over my brother, and keeping him from losing himself in the endless murder."

"I'm not sure we did," I said. "Will it end well, Athena? Can Kratos truly be protected from himself?"

"I do not know," Athena said. "I cannot foresee. Were these brighter times, I'd have said it was in the hands of the Sisters of Fate… but…"

"He killed them, yeah," Zack said with a grimace. "So we've heard."

"Thank you, Lady Athena," I said, bowing again.

She followed Kratos through the portal.

"Wait a second," Zack said, his head snapping up. "Your _brother_—?"

But Athena was gone, the portal closed. For several seconds, there was silence except for the gravedigger scooping earth back onto Deimos.

"Well, it's time for me to leave," I said.

"What?" Zack said.

"I've done all I could here," I told him, toying with my Keyblade in my hands. "I have to go back to my search. Ven is out there somewhere in the worlds. And Terra… he exists. I know he does. I've seen him."

I produced my Keyblade Glider and boarded it. "Thanks for the adventure, Zack," I said.

I jetted off the cliff, preparing a portal.

"Aqua!" Zack called. "Aqua, wait!"

I braked instantly, and rotated to face him.

"Take me with you," he implored. "Please."

I looked at his face, eager and pleading. As I looked him over, he smiled and spread his arms, welcoming me to look at him in his entirety.

"Okay," I said, and pulled up alongside to allow him to board.

"Just 'okay'?" he said. "Shoot, I thought I was gonna have to make a speech."

"I was half-ready to make a speech begging you to come," I confessed. "It's best to just stick with 'okay'."

"Yeah," he agreed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

Whoa, super-mega-chapter! I didn't think I had it in me. Well, first of all, before you start hassling me over the Oppenheimer quote, that's actually taken straight from _God of War: Ghost of Sparta_. I found it brilliant.

Anyway, you might think I spent an inordinate amount of time here in Sparta. But I think it's how the _Kingdom Hearts_ world-travelling system should be approached. Here's what I think: I don't want each world to just be a reenactment of whatever media it's drawn from—I want to make every world an important journey of development and emotion for every character involved. It's how I roll. And it's certainly how I'm going to roll with _Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation_. Though a bit of reenactment is, of course, inescapable and perfectly okay.

Moving along, in the next chapter Aqua and Zack will find themselves in the Very Expensive Forest. See you there.


	11. Waiting For Home

**Aqua Mortis**

Hi, no one! Welcome to another chapter for you to not review! Don't get me wrong, I'm not _that_ bitter. I've checked my hit count, and it's MASSIVE, more than any other story I've ever written.

Though vis-à-vis the reviewage, well, if this were any other story I'd have given up and deleted it by now. But as I've said, this is going to be a huge undertaking. I'm certain of the eventual payoff. In the meantime, you many, many people who are clearly reading through the whole thing, talk to me please. :)

**Waiting For Home**

When Zack and I touched down on the nearest world, it was night, and the land was blanketed in fog. We quickly built a campfire, and Zack set up a pair of bedrolls.

We sat up, staring into the fire. Zack toyed with the new power his sword had been imbued with, setting it ablaze and turning it off, over and over again.

My mind was abuzz. Everything was catching up. He'd kissed me, he'd wanted to come with me! My shattered heart already felt stronger… but how to approach him now? In the middle of a battle, when there's not a thought in your head, it's easy to act. Calm and silence is something different.

I edged toward him, feeling more comfortable in my own skin with every inch. "Zack," I said, breaking the silence of the crackling fire. "What are you thinking about?"

He snuffed out the blood-red flame of his sword, so he was only illuminated by the more subdued and natural orange light of our fire. "Terra," he answered.

I nodded. "I think about him a lot too. I miss him."

"He didn't just save my life," Zack recalled. "He taught me the true meaning of 'hero'. I've spent my life not just trying to be heroic, but… trying to be _him_. I'm hoping now that I can help you find him. Save his life. Repay my debt. A hero _always_ repays his debt. Maybe then I can… really and truly call myself his friend."

"The friendship between boys," I mumbled. "Of course, you're hardly a _boy_ anymore. You're a fascinating man."

"Thanks," Zack said. "And you? You are a mature, wise, and powerful woman… exactly the same person you were when we met." He looked up from the fire and straight at me. "Why is that?" he muttered. "Why haven't you changed… at all?"

I blushed. This was true. I didn't _look_ twenty years older. Well, I would have had to tell him sooner or later if I wanted his trust.

"I… a long time ago…" I muttered. "I became lost in the Realm of Darkness. I let myself go so that Terra could return to the Realm of Light. I've been trapped there. But six months ago, some Keyblade apprentices found a way to release me."

"So…" Zack said thoughtfully. "The twenty years…"

"All of it," I confirmed. "Trapped."

Zack was stunned. He appeared to be giving it some deep thought.

To break the silence, I spoke. "Where are you from, Zack?"

"Hmm…? Me?" he said, still absently. "Oh, I'm from Radiant Garden. They do a bit of world-hopping there, you know. Have you ever been?"

"Long ago, yeah," I said. "I ask because… well, I always knew you weren't from where we met."

"How?" he said, alarmed.

"Well, I haven't had much to do apart from pore over my memories," I said. "And I thought about you a lot, same as I thought about other things. On top of your hair and your clothes, there was some link in my chain of memories that didn't quite fit. When you told me how you'd met Terra, you pretty much said that Hades was 'some dude'. A person who'd been on that world for any length of time would have known who the gods were."

Zack seemed impressed by my logic. "Well, there you go," he said. "Shoot, so much for maintaining world order."

"Like I've told you, I don't think that's really important," I said.

"And you?" he said, leaning in with interest. "Where are you from?"

"I don't remember," I said, leaning back and gazing into the stars. "I lived with Master Eraqus in the Land of Departure since I was a little kid. It was my home, he was my father. It was all I knew. It's gone now."

"Gone?" Zack repeated.

"Yes," I said. "Eraqus was gone, the land unprotected. I had to… close it down. I don't really know where I live anymore."

"Well, that's too bad," Zack said. "That's _really_ bad, actually. People need a home. It's who we are."

I stared into the fire, suddenly almost certain that I was experiencing a dream. For Zack had spoken the very thoughts that had plagued me for these long, dreary months. Or, maybe he just meant it when he said he knew me.

"Wow, Zack," I said. "You sure can hit a nail on the head…" I looked up at him, to find him looking over his shoulder intensely.

"Zack?" I said. "Where are you looking?"

He didn't answer, but kept gazing into the blackness. I didn't understand what he was worried about, but at that moment the only thing I cared about was that his face wasn't turned toward me, as if he was _trying_ to take the spontaneity away. "Zack, I wanna kiss you—"

Our campfire died instantly, and we could see nothing.

I set a glowing orb to the tip of my Keyblade to illuminate us, while Zack used his sword's fire to do the same.

"Who's out there?" Zack called. "Show yourselves."

I saw the shadows against the tall, bare trees, slinking around behind them. They were small figures, in clothes that billowed slightly, with curved horns that I sincerely hoped meant they were wearing helmets.

"Go on, get out of here!" Zack yelled, swinging his flaming blade. "We don't want any disturbance!"

The figures slowly stepped back, out of our range of sight. An ominous aura still hung over us.

"I don't think they're quite gone," I whispered.

"Let's make sure," Zack said.

We stepped together into the forest, our lit weapons casting deep shadows in the deeper night air. Occasionally, something could be heard skittering away.

"You know, I get the feeling they couldn't hurt us if they tried," I said. "Let's just back out of here."

I was proven wrong. A concussive sound blew through the trees, causing both me and Zack to double over, almost dropping our weapons.

As we straightened up, the first glimmers of the sunrise illuminated our aggressor. The man was twelve feet tall, and clothed in a long black robe. His face was largely concealed, both by his long beard and the protective helmet he wore, which was topped by decorative tree branches. Around us, his diminutive followers gathered, their faces completely masked.

And before we could regain our composure, the shriek came again from the tall man: "NI!"

"Aah," I growled in pain. "Who are you?"

"We are," he said in a shrill voice, "the Knights Who Say… NI!"

Zack went pale. "No," he said.

"What?" I demanded. "What are they?"

"Those who hear them seldom live to tell the tale," Zack whispered, still quivering from the attack.

"The Knights Who Say Ni demand a sacrifice!" the leader continued.

"We have little to offer…" I began, but was silenced by the cacophonous ringing "NI!"s that came from every direction now.

"We will say NI again to you if you do not appease us!" he snarled.

"What do you want?" I asked, my hands over my ears.

"We want… A SHRUBBERY!" he declared.

"A what?" Zack demanded.

"If you do not bring us a shrubbery," the knight continued loudly, "you will never pass through this wood… ALIVE!"

"That's insane," I said, almost frantic.

"And then, once you have brought the shrubbery," the knight plowed on, seemingly oblivious to anything we said. "You must then find… ANOTHER SHRUBBERY!"

"Are you kid—?" I began.

"And then, once you have found that shrubbery, place it next to the first shrubbery, only slightly higher so you get a two-level effect with a little path running down the middle."

"A path," I said dully.

"And then… you must chop down the mightiest tree in the forest… WITH… a herring!" He presented the fish to me gleefully.

"ENOUGH!" I roared. "I'm not going to chop down a tree with a herring!"

"Oh… please?" the head knight said.

Zack looked at me, amused. "Is this suddenly beneath the might of the Keyblade, Aqua?" he asked dryly.

"It just makes no sense!" I said. "A Keyblade wielder shouldn't place herself _above_ anything… but I'm not going to be bullied like this!"

I swung my Keyblade in a vast arc, cutting through three of the smaller knights, who faded into white powder. Zack followed my lead, and the remaining knights jumped into action.

As they tried to close in on us, the leader stepped farther back, out of range. Angrily, I leapt over his followers and pursued him, but I was too late. He had bought himself enough time to inhale deeply for a powerful "NI!"

It was like running straight into a wall while also getting speared in both ears. When the initial shockwave passed, I jumped for him, aiming the Keyblade at his face.

His disproportionately stubby arms reached out in a frail attempt at self-defense. When he grabbed the shaft of my Keyblade and pushed it down, I lashed back with an unexpected weapon: my foot, smashing into his nose. I cartwheeled away from him, barely evading a "NI!" to the face.

The lead knight circled me threateningly, while another one tiptoed up behind me, apparently thinking he could catch me by surprise. I let him think that for a moment before aiming a Thunder spell behind my back, causing him to burst into the white powder.

Zack had athletically hacked his way to my side, though a few of the sycophantic little knights continued to chase after him.

We prepared ourselves to jump the big knight, but our noisy battle was interrupted by perfectly silent figures in gray cloaks—Midghosts.

So the plague went on. I hadn't seen any on Kratos' world—perhaps I had simply missed them, or maybe that world already had more monsters than it could support—and I had very nearly forgotten about them. But now, my sense of duty kicked in. These beasts, beset upon the world, took priority over any irritation I had with the Knights of Ni.

I lunged for the Midghosts, a small nick from my Keyblade instantly drawing blood that contrasted its colorless body—I winced. When something only bleeds smoke, and vanishes upon its defeat, it's easy to think of it as a monster. By the same token, it was very difficult to remember the Midghosts as mindless destroyers when their blood shone exactly like mine.

The Knights of Ni backed away from the Midghosts. "Fight if you must, Keyblade Master," the leader said. "Knights Who Say Ni live to fight another day!" He passed into a Corridor of Darkness along with his lackeys.

His recognition of my title bothered me, but I brushed it aside. Maybe he thinks everyone who has a Keyblade is a Master, I reasoned. It's not an uncommon misconception.

The cold of a Midghost's breath sobered me. I cut its throat, dropping it to the ground. Zack used his burning blades to great effect, to great carnage. Every Midghost I saw, I did everything in my power to kill. I tried not to think about the way that every time I got a glimpse under one of their hoods, it was like looking in a mirror.

One of them I had downed was still alive, and it looked up at me. My eyes on its empty face were full of disbelief and hurt, begging me for pity.

In my split-second's hesitation, a firecracker went off near my head. Turning in the direction of it, I saw a Midghost die right at my side. From the looks of its hands, it had been ready to gouge deeply into my face. I shuddered and looked up, expecting Zack to be grinning at me, pleased at his display of a power I had not yet seen, but Zack was far away, his mind given over to his battle instincts.

My rescuer was a tall and striking man. He dressed in tattered black robes, and on his head was a leather skull cap sporting a pair of ram's horns. In one hand, he clutched a staff, and with the other, he continued to shoot sparks.

I turned to the Midghost who had fallen. It was dead, the false eyes gone. I shuddered. I remembered Sora's words: "_Everyone sees their own eyes in the faces of the Midghosts."_ Everyone. Though I was ill-informed of the infestation, I could only imagine that if such ploys were done frequently, that pitiful look had gotten a lot of people killed. My heart burned with rage, and I positively mutilated every Midghost that came my way.

"Aqua!" came Zack's voice. I turned to find him pinned to a tree by a pair of them, with a number of others gliding toward him, claws outstretched.

"Damn," said my rescuer, a wizard if I ever saw one. He pulled a small round device from a pocket, and from that yanked out a cross-shaped pin. "One… two… three…" he muttered, before hurling it towards Zack. It exploded, leaving the Midghosts to collapse but sparing Zack, who wound up only being covered in soot.

"Thanks, stranger," Zack said. "It seems we both owe you our lives."

"Think nothing of it," he said in his growly voice. "Midghosts are not the firrrst thing to haunt this darrrrrrk and very expensive forest."

Zack looked toward the sunrise. It wasn't so dark anymore, but admittedly there was a great deal of swirling fog. "We should try to find our camp again," he said to me. "Our bedrolls and things."

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Now, hold it!" the old wizard said. "Ye can't be leavin' me alone with this job. We've got to burn 'em." He pointed his staff at a dead Midghost, releasing a jet of flame that burned it to ash.

"Believe me, we'd love to," I said grimly. "But we really should be going."

"Ye don't understand," he said quickly. "Ye can't kill a Midghost by burnin'; what ye got to do instead is to burn those that are already dead." I tried to speak again, but he interrupted. "Because if ye don't, then they'll stand up and continue their path of havoc."

"_Really?_" I said, suddenly intense. "Well, thank you. Looks like we owe you again."

I cast simple Fire spells on each of the bloodied corpses. Zack ignited his blade and tapped them one by one; a simple touch was sufficient to make the bodies blacken and collapse.

"You have to burn them, or they come back to life," I muttered. "Wow, I hope others have figured that out. These are truly awful creatures…" I turned to speak to the stranger. "I'm Aqua. And this is Zack. Again, thank you for your help and the information." Greeted with silence, I persisted, "And who are you?"

"I know much that is hidden," he said solemnly. "I am an enchanter."

"What's your name?"

"There are some who call me… Tim."

Zack looked up from his final burned body. "Tim? Really?"

"Aye, Tim," he said.

Zack shrugged. "Well, we need to locate our camp. Would you care to join us?"

"Perhaps," he whispered. "Oi, Keyblader!"

I turned to face him, alarmed. "Um… yes?"

"Ye may want t' know… some time ago I met another of your order, who ye remind me of greatly. A lad named Ventus, who had lost his way and grrreatly valued his friends. Almost as if he needed them in order t' live."

I could do nothing but gape. Zack stepped up to him. "Tell us what you know," he said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Back at our camp, Zack had relit the campfire to brew a pot of coffee, while I packed the bedrolls and listened intently to every word Tim said.

"I sought the Holy Grrrrrrrrrrrrail," Tim explained. "A powerful artifact o' light which I hoped t' use t' bring justice t' this fairrrr kingdom. It required valor and might the likes of which I do not possess. I needed a Keyblader."

"And Ventus offered to help you?" I said excitedly. He had never been one to turn his head when his presence was needed.

"Aye, and he was all set t' do it too," Tim said. "Unfortunately, before we could begin our quest he got himself abducted by aliens."

Zack, who had given his coffee a taste-test, spat it out violently. "He what?" he demanded in high octaves.

"Happens," Tim said simply. "But what I can be doin' for ye… aye, ye could help me retrieve the artifact."

"But if Ven is on another world," I said, "he might be in trouble—"

"Ye don't understand," Tim said. "The Holy Grrrrrrrrrrrrail has grrreat powers, _good_ powers. The power t' make men inta heroes, and heroes inta kings! The power t' give ye the things yer heart mightily craves! It can brrrring Ventus back to ye… and if perhaps there's someone else ye've lost…" He let that hang.

Zack tapped my shoulder. "We'll, um, counsel on that one," he said to Tim. "Give us a moment."

He ushered me off to the distance, out of the enchanter's earshot. "What do _you_ think?" he asked me.

"An eccentric performance," I acknowledged, nodding back to Tim.

"Yeah," Zack said. "But I meant, should we help him? I'm of the opinion that we're being played."

"Played?" I said. "Why would he be playing us?"

"He's Tim the Enchanter, Aqua. _Tim_."

"So what if he is?" I said, amused. "He seeks light. That's good enough for me."

"Hmm," Zack said. "I think our mission would be served better if we searched for Ventus directly. But… well, if it's good enough for you, I do of course trust your judgment." He bowed to me. "Your good servant, ma'am."

"Don't do that," I said with a laugh, bringing him back up to a standing position. "You heard him, anyway. With this Grail, we can find Ventus _anywhere_."

Zack shrugged. "Just looking out for you, is all."

I was touched at his devotion and genuine concern, and I advanced on him with my lips parted before realizing we were in company. I backed away awkwardly, looking into the cloudy sky.

"Um… yeah," I said. "You're… you're sweet, Zack." I turned to Tim. "We accept."


	12. Bittersweet Truths

**Aqua Mortis**

Yes, _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_. Hey, it's a world if I ever saw one. Just happens to be a bit silly. _Too_ silly, you ask? Why, no, just about how I like it.

Scribbles I is here! This is the first chapter I'm posting _after_ receiving that reviewer's attention. Good to have you. You're currently on Chapter 3, hoping you catch up. See ya later.

**Bittersweet Truths**

Tim led Zack and me up a ridge, staying crouched behind it until he signaled it was safe to peer over it.

"Behold," he said. "The Cave of Caerbannog."

It was a huge, black mouth, belching smoke, eagerly waiting for us, inviting us, to enter and never emerge… or maybe I was freaked out a little.

"Bones o' full fifty men," Tim continued, gesturing to the skeletal remains scattered all around the entrance. "Death took them all with big, nasty, pointy teeth. The monster of Caerbannog waits…"

Zack took a breath. "Okay, well… we're just gonna have to go in there and face it, then…"

"Hold!" Tim said, grabbing Zack's arm tightly. "It emerges."

I followed his gaze, seeing nothing but a tiny white rabbit sniffing around the entrance.

"Where, behind the rabbit?" I asked.

"It is the rrrrrabbit," Tim said gravely.

Zack and I turned our heads to stare incredulously at Tim. "Oh, come _on_," Zack said.

"Were you just trying to scare us?" I demanded.

"That's no ordinary rrrrrabbit!" Tim exclaimed. "He's got huge, sharrrp… um… he can leap about…" He waved his hands menacingly, apparently at a loss for what he was trying to convey.

"All this for the _Rabbit_ of Caerbannog?" Zack said. "I'll take care of this." He put on his helmet. "We'll be having rabbit for dinner tonight."

Zack drew his sword and advanced on the rabbit. To my horror, the rabbit let out a high-pitched keen and leapt at Zack's face. With a shout of rage, Zack leapt back, and the beast was on top of his head, trying to bite down on him, but only hitting his helmet.

"I warned ye!" Tim bellowed. "Guess it's a good thing he just _happened_ to put on his helmet, aye?"

"Come on!" I said, hurtling over the ridge and aiming a spell at the tiny monster. It saw me coming and hopped away from Zack, bounding straight toward Tim, who shot a jet of fire at it, which it nimbly dodged.

I flashed a protective shield, dazing it momentarily. I cried out "Fire!", and the resulting ball of flame tracked the rabbit as it bolted in a circle around the cave entrance. The magic fizzled out before it could catch up to the speedy little monstrosity.

And this continued on, with mine and Tim's shouts of "Fire! Blizzard! Thunder!" always falling short as the Rabbit of Caerbannog evaded us again and again. Zack tried to intercept its path, and it went for his throat. He brought up his sword to block, and his sword and the rabbit's vicious fangs locked together.

"Aqua!" Tim called. "Join yer magic with mine!"

"Right!" I said, coming close to him. He crossed his staff with my Keyblade.

"FIRE!" Tim bellowed.

"THUNDER!" I shrieked.

And a rolling, gushing wave of ball lightning burst forth from us, splashing violently over Zack and the rabbit before vanishing deep into the cave.

The blast had taken Zack's helmet away and knocked him off his feet, but he sprang up with a shout of "I'm okay!" He whirled around, trying to locate the rabbit.

It was in front of him, smoke billowing from its body. As it tried once again to jump for Zack's throat, the lingering effects of the spell caught up to it, exploding and searing its core. It squeaked in pain, and Zack ignited his sword and drove it through the monster's spine.

Zack stared down at the rabbit's bloody corpse, his breath ragged as he then looked up at me with a deranged sort of grin. The battle had kept us moving faster than thought; I was feeling a bit tired and crazy myself.

"That was rough," Zack said, lifting his sword to examine the impaled killer bunny. "But we did it… where so many others have failed."

"Aye, that we did," Tim agreed. "Come, then, into the cave, where we'll find our clue t' the Grrrrrrrrrrrrrail."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

We made our way down, stepping carefully on the untouched stone floor, guided by an orb of light from my Keyblade. It was very far below that we came upon a carving in the stone, a message in some indecipherable script.

"Is this what we're looking for?" Zack said.

"I reckon it must be," Tim muttered.

"What language is that?" I asked.

"I don't know…" Tim replied. He produced some sort of charm from within his robes, and threw it to the ground. "Brother Maynard!" he called out.

In a puff of white smoke, a skinny man in monk's vestments stood before us. Hands folded, he turned towards Tim and spoke in a solemn voice, "Yes, my bonny old chum?"

"Ye're a scholarrr," Tim said. "Can ye rrrread this engrrravin'?"

Maynard turned to the wall, and I brought my Keyblade closer to the inscription to help.

"It's Aramaic," Maynard said after some inspection. "It reads, 'Here be the last words… of Joseph of Arimathea… the Holy Grail may be found… in the castle of… Aargh…'."

There was silence for a moment. "The what?" Tim finally said.

"The castle of Aargh," Maynard repeated.

"Well, what's that?" Zack demanded.

"He must have died while carving it," Maynard said simply.

"Oh, come _on_…" Zack said impatiently.

"Well, that's what it says!" Maynard said crossly.

"Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't have bothered to carve 'aargh', he'd just _say_ it."

"Well, if he was dictating it…" I mused.

"Does it say anythin' else?" Tim demanded.

"No," Maynard said. "Just 'aargh'."

"Aargh," I repeated.

"Aargh," Zack muttered thoughtfully. "What could it mean?"

"Actually, I think I might know…" Maynard began.

He was interrupted by an echoing roar coming from right behind us. The four of us turned on our heels, beholding a giant face—the top of the face was a mass of countless beady eyes, while the lower half was nothing but a huge, scaly maw.

"I knew it," Brother Maynard said. "It's the legendary Black Beast of—Aargh!"

The horrendous beast's mouth closed around him, and the creature chewed him up before tossing him down its gullet.

"Brother Maynard!" Tim cried out in anguish.

Zack tugged on his robes. "We've gotta run, Tim…" he said. "Come on!"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Escape from the Black Beast had seemed hopeless, but… as it turns out, we got away. To answer your question.

We emerged from the cave upon a cliffside, a dangerous ridge overlooking a gorge, the whole thing blanketed by the white fog that seemed to cover this entire world.

The three of us shimmied along the edge, our eyes firmly on our feet. "Where are we now?" Zack asked.

"The Gorrrrrge of Eternal Peril," Tim replied. "Ahead of us, ye'll notice the Brrridge of Death… that'll lead us to the Grrrrrrrrrrrrrail."

I chanced a glance upward. Through the fog, I saw a bridge constructed by ropes. The planks were nearly two feet apart. Bridge of Death indeed.

Trying to see how we could access the bridge from here, I spotted an elderly man crouched in front of it. "Who's that man?" I asked Tim.

"Keeper of the Brrridge," Tim said. "He asks each trrraveler thrrrrree questions. If ye answer them corrrrrectly, he lets ye crrross."

"And if you get a question wrong?"

"Why, ye're cast into the gorrrrrge. Ah, look, here comes a brrrave soul now."

A man approached the bridge-keeper, dressed in a green and white tunic and carrying a shield emblazoned with a chicken.

"STOP!" the elderly man said, holding up a hand. "Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see."

"Ask me the questions, bridge-keeper. I am not afraid," the man said in a quavering voice.

"What… is your name?"

"Sir Robin of Camelot."

"What… is your quest?"

"I seek the Holy Grail."

"What… is the capital of Assyria?"

Sir Robin stared blankly for a long moment. The bridge-keeper raised a hand, and Robin was flung into the gorge by some invisible force.

I stifled my shriek with a hand, but it was too late. The bridge-keeper turned his face, his blind eyes seeming to stare straight at us. "Who approacheth?" he asked.

"I'll go first," Tim said. He stepped forward. "Ask me the questions, brrrridge-keeper."

"What… is your name?"

"It is Tim, the enchanter."

"What… is your quest?"

"I seek the Grrrrrrrrrrrrrail."

"What… is your favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Correct," the bridge-keeper said. "You may cross."

Tim began his crossing, turning his head to look at me and Zack. "I got off easy, friends," he said. "Best keep yer wits about ye."

I swallowed hard, before stepping forward myself.

"STOP!" said the old man. "What… is your name?"

"Master Aqua," I said tightly.

"What… is your quest?"

"I seek my friends, Terra and Ventus."

"I see. And which of them two do you like better?"

"Terra," I said instantly, without thinking.

Silently, the bridge-keeper gestured for me to proceed. I took my first step across the rickety bridge, wishing that my extremities would stop shaking. Behind me, I heard Zack's approach.

"What… is your name?" the bridge-keeper asked.

"Zack Fair… hero-to-be."

"What… is your quest?"

"What Aqua said."

"What… is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

My next breath came in a gasp. I knew nothing then but that if anything were to happen to Zack, the bridge-keeper would pay dearly, and soon.

"Um… um… um…" Zack muttered. "I don't know, sir."

"Well, if there's one thing this bridge-keeper appreciates, it's honesty. Off ya go, then."

"Oh," Zack said pleasantly. "Why, thank you."

I relaxed, my mind back to the task of stepping across, one plank at a time.

"Hero-to-be?" I called back to him.

I heard him chuckle. "It was a professional risk," he said. "It's what I do."

"I'm sure," I said. "I was fully prepared to charge back across the bridge and avenge you, you know."

"He let me by, didn't he?" Zack said, his smirk evident in his voice. "What can I say, he must have liked the cut of my jib."

"Clearly," I said with a giggle.

There was a brief pause as we continued, then Zack spoke. "We learn about ourselves on these journeys, don't we?"

The solemnity of his tone caught me off guard, and I turned my head to him. "What does _that_ mean?" I demanded.

My foot missed the next plank, and I had to scramble to grab the ropes before plummeting into the gorge.

"Eyes front, ye punk who be so daft!" Tim called.

I righted myself, and Zack and I finished crossing the Bridge of Death in silence.

"So," I muttered. "Is our quest over?"

"Not even close," Tim replied curtly.


	13. A Granting of Power

**Aqua Mortis**

You know, it's widely acknowledged that people in video games don't have to eat. But it just occurred to me, they never _sleep_ either. I mean, are we to believe that the entire events of certain games took place over the course of one day? Crazy, man.

Bit of an awkward chapter coming up. But important.

Very belated update: FYI, every couple of weeks I take another look at this chapter and self-consciously make it _less_ lemony. Eventually, it may not read as an intimate scene at all. Just shows how much confidence I have in myself. Not a whole lot, as it turns out.

**A Granting of Power**

Night fell fast in the Very Expensive Forest. Another camp was set, Zack producing his bedrolls and laying them on either side of a fire I had set. I sat on top of my bedroll, simply staring into the fire.

Tim was asleep shortly. He slept standing up, his back against a tree and his staff braced against the ground in front of him. Zack plopped down onto the bed he had set for himself, but his pose was upright and casual, clearly not considering sleep any time soon.

"So," he said over the fire. "You like Terra better, huh?"

I shrugged. "I don't know what that was all about."

"It must have been true, he let you by," Zack pointed out. "Think you could explain it?"

"Well…" I pondered. "I… I think it'll be for the lifetime growing up with him. Ventus came into our lives _much_ later, and we were protective of him. Terra and I were equals. I value him more than anything."

"You do, don't you," Zack said thoughtfully. "Was he the reason…? I mean, were you and he ever…?"

I looked up from the fire. "What?"

"Your love for him," Zack said. "Your drive to be with him again. I'm only wondering… twenty years ago, and… and _now_… is that why you don't want to pursue a relationship with me?"

I stared at him, eyes widened. "What makes you think… of course I want…"

"But you haven't," Zack said. "Why not, if it's not out of respect for Terra, or… something?"

"It's not like that," I mumbled.

"What's it like?" he pestered.

"I don't know! Just go to sleep, Zack."

We held our eye contact over the fire for a few more seconds.

"Actually, I was going to keep watch," he said.

"Fine. Do that, then. I'm… tired."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I fidgeted a little under my blankets as I tried to drift off into sleep. Could Zack really be that much of a… a _boy_? Thinking that I didn't have any desire for romance, just because I hadn't said outright that I did? Wasn't it obvious…?

Well, maybe it wasn't. Zack wasn't a Keyblade wielder. I'd been one all my life, maybe I took it for granted that an outsider would be able to see my injured heart, and how it constantly reached out to Zack in the hope that he could heal it…

Didn't matter. His inability to see that could be chalked up to being a boy as well.

I thought of Terra. He'd _never_ had the problem of being too much a boy. He was just boyish enough. Maybe when we found him, he'd say again that he'd always be my brother, and then Zack would… would…

The fantasy was too much, too joyful for my heavy heart to finish. Zack thought I didn't want him. That hurt more than the bite of a hellhound or the claws of a Midghost. But not, frankly, more than I hurt most of the time, not more than Terra could, and had, hurt me in the course of a lifetime friendship.

I opened my eyes, no longer to a starry sky but now an empty blackness, and I was standing on a shimmering white surface. A presence was heavy behind me, and I turned. There was the giant human skull, its great blue eyes surveying me.

"You're hanging on to what is not yours," it said. "Terra is gone, lost forever. Your life mission is wasted."

"I've had enough of you," I said. "Get out of my heart and stop feeding my despair."

The skull laughed horribly. "Feeding it? I _am_ your despair."

"What?" I breathed.

"Only yours, of course," it clarified. "Imagine if _everyone_ had a Skull of Despair." It barked out a laugh at the thought. "No more foolish heroics, no strength in any heart…"

"Shut _up_," I told it through gritted teeth.

"But yes," it plowed on, ignoring me completely. "I am the very thing within you that causes your heart to lose hope."

I held out my hand to produce my Keyblade. "All the more reason for me to kill you."

With a snarl, I jumped at it, my Keyblade over my head to cleave the skull in two…

I was blocked by an overhead parry, and I blinked in surprise to see Ends of the Earth, Terra's blade, biting down on Rainfell.

"Don't, Aqua." Terra stared at me with his usual intensity, speaking softly and honestly. "You can't kill him. He's a piece of you."

"He's—" I began.

"Yes," Terra said. "He's built from your darkness."

That didn't convince me. I began to withdraw my Keyblade from his parry, but he snagged it and spoke with even more urgency right to my face.

"Your darkness… and mine."

My hands shook, and I looked past Terra to the Skull.

"Please," Terra said. "For me, Aqua. Right now, he's the only thing that's keeping me alive."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

My eyes snapped open. "Terra," I wailed.

I heard a "hmph" off to the side. Turning my head, I saw Zack curled up atop his bedroll, poking at the fire with his sword.

"Zack?" I whispered, confused at the sound he had made.

"I get it," he muttered, giving a clear sense of misery. "You dream about him."

"It's not what you think—" I said hastily.

"You and I are just friends," he said, leaning back and looking at the sky. "Poor old me. Never had a chance."

"Zack." I sat up, my eyes wide again with incredulity. "Look, Terra and I _grew __up __together_. Don't you get that? He's like my brother."

"Sure," he said dully. "A brother… whose name you moan erotically in your sleep, sure."

"ZACK!" I screeched, getting to my feet with sudden fury. "You have no right to tell me what I should see in my dreams! You don't know how I feel, so don't judge me! And stop acting as if you have some kind of claim to me. I _never_ said I would go out with you. I believe I gave you a resounding 'no'."

He craned his head up at me, considering.

"So… yeah," I blustered. "Let _me_ be the one who knows what my feelings are. We clear on that, Zack?"

Zack closed his eyes and hung his head. "What kind of a fool am I?" he whispered. "I've upset you."

"Upset?" I repeated dangerously.

"That face," he said, pointing. "Your fury and shock. I swore I hated anyone who caused you to be this way. And now _I've_ done it. What do I do now? Do I hate _me_ now? That's tough, 'cause… I used to be kind of fond of me, know what I mean?" He looked at me. "I think the best thing for both of us will be if I just… go."

I blinked. "Go?"

"Yeah," he said, standing up and stretching. "I'll find a wizard to hop me to another world… travel with someone I won't hurt."

He gathered up the one bedroll and turned into the night.

"But…" I stammered. "But… no…"

He was running. Then, gone.

I dropped my face into my hands. "Zack," I whispered. "Don't leave me." I looked again into the blackness, and jumped in surprise. Terra was standing in front of me, the giant skull right next to him.

"Aqua," Terra said.

"Terra," I gasped. "How… how are you doing that?"

Terra didn't answer, but pointed to the Skull. "This guy, right here. He's your enemy. We've established that, I believe."

"Um… yes?" I said uncertainly.

"But there's something we can learn from him," Terra continued.

"What's that?"

Terra gave me an extremely uncharacteristic grin—broad and wild-eyed and remarkably un-Terra-like. "Sometimes," he said. "It doesn't hurt to do something absolutely crazy."

With that, he vanished, as did the skull.

Something crazy. Yeah, that's pretty much what I'd had in mind. I could not survive if Zack left now. He was all I had. And he had to know _exactly_ that. No more waiting. It was life or death.

I sprinted after him, tracking him by the presence of his heart. He was fast, but the terrain was imperfect, and I outmaneuvered him quickly, dropping in front of him to block his path.

"Zack!" I said powerfully. "People are important in different ways, don't you see? You matter to me in ways that T—no one, could ever match. How can I make you understand that?"

He sighed through his nose. "I don't know, Aqua."

"Then I'll do my best," I said. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. _Something __crazy,_ I reminded myself. _Bring __it __home, __Aqua._ "Zack… I'm asking you to make love to me." I opened them, and finished: "Right… now."

He jaw dropped. "What?"

"Please, Zack."

"Have you lost your mind?"

"It was a slow process, requiring years and years of exposure to darkness… but yes."

He looked me over in disbelief and confusion, the muscles in his face contorting wildly with his every thought. "And… this is what you want?" he said.

I tapped him on the shoulder. "Don't sweat it, hero," I said. "We've been through a lot together. I knew when you flew my glider—when I allowed you to control an extension of my very heart!—that it was _time_… time to await that moment…"

"Aqua, I…" he stammered.

"Look, we're adventurers," I said. "You know that we could die today or tomorrow. So… we can skip some steps. And Kingdom Hearts willing, we can go back to them later."

"Go back to them later," Zack repeated. "I'd like that."

He brushed a gloved hand against my cheek, hesitant. I reached my own hand up and took his.

"I wanted to ease into this," I said. "But I want this… very much, I want this. Don't know if you were aware, but I'm a virgin. I'm in my forties and a virgin." A laugh escaped my lips. Technically, it was true. "This is how much you mean to me. How much I want you to stay."

"Okay, then," he said, squeezing my hand. "I'll stay with you, and never hurt you again."

I don't know which of us tugged on the other, but we met in the middle and kissed passionately. I ran my fingers through his hair, more ready for this than I had been for anything in my life.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The Keyblade lore tells about sex. It says that for those of us with Keyblade-bearing powers, it's a grim and unrewarding experience, one that renders the heart cold and distant. Sex is not something a Keyblade wielder should seek for any reason.

Making love, however, is something else entirely, so the lore says. And Zack and I… we made love, without a question.

It started slowly, kissing, our hands on each other's faces. And it was a matter of time, a glove here, an unbuttoned coat there, then we were both naked, and our hands were all over each other, hungry, unable to part…

I'd forced his back to the forest floor, and briefly my lips were lifted from his and we looked into each other's eyes… and that was it. No going back.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A small Terra floated in the corner of my vision.

"What your body is feeling," he explained, "is your heart making a connection. This is strengthening it, making it brighter…"

The Skull of Despair pushed in front of Terra and overtook my sight. "Even in the middle of sex with another man, you can't keep your mind off Terra," he taunted. "You're a faithless woman."

Terra blasted the Skull out of the way. He was glowing now, his voice frantic.

"Aqua—" he said as quickly as he could, "Your heart will set me free!"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Stars preserve me," I rasped.

I had a single second to be annoyed at myself for my minced oath, before it was overtaken by the realization that for the first time in my life, I had just… call it what you will. The rush of ecstasy quickly became an almost scientific curiosity—I wanted that again, and was going to find out how that could happen immediately.

I gripped Zack's wrists. We were well past making love now. The phrase "going at it" springs to mind. There are… no other words.

Minutes passed, my heart pumping powerfully. I again felt the heat rise from within, and when the surge of joy washed over me again it was too much—I collapsed onto Zack's chest, barely breathing.

"Zack," I muttered between gulps of air. "That… felt… wonderful…"

The force of my own understatement caused me to break out in laughter again. It was easy to do that around Zack, even if I was for the most part laughing at myself.

My laugh was broken off by my teeth chattering, and I was suddenly aware of how cold the forest was.

"Let me grab us a blanket," Zack said, reaching for his discarded pack. He set the blanket on the ground, and we lay on top of it before wrapping ourselves up, encased tightly by the blanket and each other's still-naked bodies. The closeness was almost better than the returning core warmth. I snuggled up, as intimately and romantically as I could manage, and my efforts were rewarded with his arms tightening around me and his sigh of pleasure blowing through my hair.

I kissed Zack's face and tasted salt… "Zack, are you crying?" I said in surprise.

He wiped his eyes in my hair, unable to extricate his arms from the blankets. "I just had my moment with the woman of my dreams," he said. "What the hell else am I supposed to do?"

I leaned in closer to him, which was scarcely possible. "You mean that, Zack?"

"I sure do," he said. "I've been waiting for this for so long… if I had known for even a second that you wanted it too… I'd have done things differently. Probably would have brushed my teeth before bed, first of all." He laughed grimly. "I wouldn't have forced you to run out here in the dark and the cold… I wouldn't have tried to leave you."

"It's good that you did," I said. "It was perfect."

Zack kissed my forehead. "You deserve better than perfect," he said. "I'm gonna strive to be that for you."

"Don't you put yourself down, Zack Fair," I warned, kissing him gently once more. "I look forward to making love with you again in the future… and again and again and again… and having it be perfect, every single time."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

Well, that wasn't very Pythonesque, was it? Eh, I don't want to kill the mood with endnotes, so… I'll leave it at that.


	14. Where the Heart Comes From

**Aqua Mortis**

At first, I thought I couldn't possibly do the Black Knight scene… but you know what? I can, I can do the Black Knight scene. And still be in character. I think.

By the way, if you want to know what's going on with Sora, Riku, Kairi, and their respective apprentices, don't worry, you'll find out. Not in _Aqua Mortis_, but you'll find out. Hehehehehe…

My first "edit for quality" in a bit. Should be worthwhile.

**Where the Heart Comes From**

_Diary of Tim the Enchanter: With the aid of the Keyblade, we've conquered all obstacles we've faced. And now, as the sun reaches its apogee and me two companions try to pretend they didn't have sexual intercourse just now, I feel closer to the Grrrrrrrrrrrrrail than I've ever been._

"Tim!" I exclaimed.

"Come on, man," Zack said. "We said you could narrate, you don't have to be passive-aggressive about it."

Tim smirked at us from the head of our party, then turned his back and continued his walk. I smiled at Zack, and the need for subterfuge gone, I held his hand as we walked. He smiled back, squeezing and lacing his fingers through mine. For months, I had felt as if my heart had been left behind in the dark realm, but now its presence was overwhelming; I was filled with hope.

"Hmm…" Tim growled. "What's this, then?"

I looked past him. The surrounding land had narrowed into a pass, wide enough only for one person to slip through at a time. A man stood in front of the pass, wearing a black tunic and a helmet that concealed his face completely, with only a tiny slit he could see through. He stood there perfectly still, his hands interlaced over the pommel of his sword, its point against the ground.

"Er… pardon me," Tim said, approaching the man. "We're hopin' ta get through this pass… we seek the Grrrrrrrrrrrrail, ye see."

"None shall pass," the man deadpanned.

"What?" Tim said aggressively.

"None shall pass," he repeated.

Tim gripped his staff dangerously. Zack sidled up to him. "Let me take care of this," he said. "Ahem… we've no reason to quarrel, my good sir, but we must pass you."

"The Black Knight moves for no man," he said.

"Black Knight, huh?" Zack said. "Now, see…" He leaned on the Black Knight's shoulder conspiratorially. "We've got to find that Holy Grail. The guy in the ram's horns, he's hoping to restore your world to its former glory. And the lady, who's really special to me, by the way"—he paused to wink at me, and I gave him a little wave—"she's got a mission twenty years in the making that might finally be resolved if we can get our hands on that artifact! So we're gonna hang around until you stand aside."

"Then you shall die," the Black Knight said simply. His body began to billow with the energy of darkness.

"Hmm. Right to it, huh?" Zack took a breath and stepped back. "So be it, then." He drew his sword.

Tim and I moved in to aid him, but Zack waved us away. "This is a duel, folks," he said. "You can come in when I'm done."

I nodded to him respectfully. The Black Knight opened with a vicious thrust, and Zack had to jump back. He retaliated quickly with a low slash to the knees. The Black Knight parried, but Zack turned it to his advantage, forcing the knight's sword point toward the ground. Zack lifted his sword up high, executing a downward cut that took the knight's arm clean off.

I gasped. Only black smoke poured out of the wound, but it leaked in a downward direction, pooling on the ground.

Zack thumbed his blade. "So… will that be all?" he said.

"'Tis but a scratch," the Black Knight said.

"A… a scratch?" Zack said, alarmed. "Your arm is off!"

"No it isn't."

"What's that, then?" Zack demanded, pointing to the arm laying flat on the ground.

The Black Knight looked at his own arm, then shrugged and turned back to Zack. "I've had worse."

"You have not," Zack sneered.

The Black Knight's only response was another swipe with his sword—one-handed this time, of course. The sword clanged hard against Zack's, causing him to step back in fear, the knight still fighting with the strength of many.

The knight's darkness expanded, and he charged at Zack with his sword pointed straight forward. Zack sidestepped him nimbly and chopped off his other arm.

"I think I've made my point," Zack said. He turned to me. "I'm usually not so brutal, but this guy's clearly—"

Zack was interrupted by a kick to his shins. The armless Black Knight danced around him tauntingly.

"Come on then!" he said.

"What?" Zack said blandly.

"Have at you! Had enough, eh?"

"Look," Zack said calmly. "You've got no arms left."

"Yes I have."

"What do you mean 'yes I'—? Look!"

"Just a flesh wound," the Black Knight proclaimed, kicking Zack repeatedly in the rear.

"Look, stop that!" Zack snapped. "Fine then, friend. I'll have your leg."

Zack chopped off a leg, unleashing more of the strange black smoke.

"Right, I'll do you for that!" the Black Knight said, teetering dangerously.

"You'll what?" Zack said, disgusted.

"Come on, then!"

The Black Knight lost his balance and leaned on Zack's chest. They stared at each other.

"What are you gonna do, bleed on me?" Zack said.

"I'm invincible! The Black Knight always triumphs!"

"You're… crazy," Zack said. "I have no regrets for what I'm about to do here."

Zack swung mightily, cutting off the Black Knight's other leg. The head and torso plopped to the ground, and the Black Knight inspected himself before looking back up at Zack.

"All right, we'll call it a draw."

"Yes, let's," Zack said. "Don't worry, fella, you know what they say. There's even a little song about it: _Always look on the bright side of life_…"

Zack whistled as he pranced into the pass, and Tim joined in, walking along with him. "_Always look on the bright side of_—"

"Guys, wait," I said. "Come on, whatever creature of darkness this guy was, we can't leave him like this."

Tim and Zack looked at the torso, which had somehow managed to bring itself upright. "Running away, eh?" he said. "Oh, I see!"

"Aye, ye're rrrright, Aqua," Tim said. "We'd best put him out o' his misery."

He pointed his staff at the Black Knight. "Fire!" he said.

The flamethrower shot out, burning the knight, who simply squirmed. "Oh, you cheat! You are dishonored, sir! Have at you!"

"Hmm," Tim muttered. "Resilient little bugger… let's try—Thunder!"

His lightning bolt worked about as well. The Black Knight tried hopping toward him. "Come here, you yellow bastards! I'll bite your legs off!"

"Hmm… I know," Tim said. "Sixteen-Ton Weight!" Tim pointed his staff upwards, conjuring from nowhere an enormous black box, clearly labeled "16 tons" in white letters. The weight hung there over the Black Knight's head for a moment, then dropped straight down. The knight's complaints and taunts instantly ceased.

"That did it," Tim said, twirling his staff in satisfaction.

"Sixteen-Ton Weight, huh?" I said.

"Aye."

"You'll have to teach me that one. Let's get going."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Beyond the pass, Tim directed us down a hill. "I smell freshwater and fog," he said. "Aye, and now I spy a loch!"

A great black lake appeared before us, as if it had been waiting for us. Things always seemed to come out of nowhere in this fog… and indeed, a large dragon-headed boat emerged from nowhere as the fog cleared, and far away in the lake was an island, upon which stood a crumbling stone castle.

"The Castle Aargh," Tim said. "Our journey is at an end."

He paused, noticing a rotund man standing on the shore in front of the boat.

"Who would cross the Sea of Fate must answer me these questions twenty-eight!"

Zack and I glanced meaningfully at each other, and I used my Keyblade to throw the man into the air and bat him into the lake. The three of us boarded the dragon-ship, which guided itself to the island.

"Look at it, in all its glory," Tim said. "'Tis a gift from God, that we finally managed to—JESUS CHRRRRRRIST!"

A live cow was catapulted from within the castle, blasting the three of us off our feet.

"What the hell?" Zack yelled, quickly righting himself.

A little man in a pointy helmet poked his head over the parapets. "Go away, silly pig-dogs!" he yelled. "Go boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person! I blow my nose at you!"

"The Frrrrench?" Tim bellowed. "They got here before me!"

"Zat's right, so-called Enchanter Tim! I fart in your general direction, you mangy Scots git, you!"

"Wha—who's _this_ guy?" Zack demanded.

"The Taunter," Tim growled. "A dangerous man."

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

"So I see," I said. "Well, I'd hate to be him right now. Let's go."

Zack, Tim, and I advanced toward the castle's front doors.

"Open this door!" I called to the taunter.

"No chance, English bedwetting types! I burst my pimples at you and call your door-opening request a silly thing, you secondhand electric donkey bottom biters!"

Zack tugged at the front door. "Well, it's locked," he said. He bowed to me. "After you, I think."

I aimed my Keyblade at the door… and immediately had a hot and steaming bucket of garbage dumped right on my head.

The proverbial straw—that was _it_. I felt a scream rising in my throat, and something far more sinister rising in my heart. My skin flickered with black fire, and when I released the scream I also released the inferno of darkness.

The energy blasted me into the air, and I no longer cared about obtaining the Grail or finding Ventus or putting the Frenchman in his place… I just wanted to get out of there. The darkness keeping me aloft, I walked back across the loch and, once I got to shore, sat down on a rock and wallowed in my own fury.

A few minutes later, I heard Zack's voice. "Um… Aqua?"

I lifted my head. At the sight of him, the darkness slowly burned itself away, and I smiled broadly. "Oh… hello, Zack."

He and Tim had, apparently, taken the boat back to me. Tim was shielding his eyes from the sun, gazing back at the castle.

"Uh, hi," Zack said. "So, what's our next move, Aqua?"

I ran my fingers through my hair. The dark fire had cleansed me of all the crap that had been dumped on me, at least. Not much consolation, considering the contamination I could still feel splashed across my heart. "I don't know, Zack. But… I think I'll be moving on. To another world. And you're welcome to join me, if you'd like."

"Only for the rest of my life," Zack said. "But the Grail…"

"Oh, I don't need a Grail," I said, producing my Keyblade. "I should have seen it before—I already have a powerful artifact of light."

Tim turned to me, an eyebrow raised. "Oh, yer heart, I suppose?"

I turned my Keyblade into the glider. "I was gonna say the Keyblade, actually. But that too. Hop on, Zack."

"Oh, sure," Tim protested. "_You_ don't need a Grrrrrrrrrrrrrail. What about me? I need the bloody thing to fix this world! Ye thought about this world, Master Aqua? It's still beset by plagues, and evil monsters, three-headed knights, bad minstrels, nineteen-year-old twin virgins in excitin' underwear… well, they're okay, I guess. But the rrrrest of it! Ye think that can keep goin' on as long as the Keyblade wielder has her hearrrrrt?"

"The Keyblade. Not my heart, the Keyblade."

"Still, Aqua," Zack said. "I don't think we're finished just yet."

"Sure we are," I said. "Tim, look! You made your journey. You're almost finished." I pointed to the castle. "And someday you're going to get in there. You know the way now."

Tim looked over the castle again. "Aye, that I did. I'll need a damned army. Infantry, cavalry…" He counted on his fingers. "Prrrobably some more sorcerers, aye, that's a must. Siege equipment, and some motorcycles… ye know where I can find some motorcycles?" He turned to me hopefully.

"See?" I told Zack. "He's got this covered. He'll be fine." I lifted off. "We'll come back when you've used the Grail," I promised Tim.

He saluted me, though it looked more like a dismissive wave. Maybe that's what he meant. He may have been gruff, but the man wanted light for his world, and that was a good thing.

"And so, the hero's journey continues," Zack said.

I opened the portal. "Yes… it certainly does."


	15. If It Takes Forever

**Aqua Mortis**

And now we travel to a world called Distant Future. I notice I went a lot more personal with Kratos than I did with Tim the Enchanter. It's about relatability, I suppose. The cast of _Futurama_ come right in-between there, I'm guessing.

**If It Takes Forever**

I jetted through the stars, my Wayfinder in hand, offering little guidance or comfort. The comfort came from Zack, standing behind me and toying with a lock of my hair.

I paused at an intersection, feeling something from my charm.

"Something up?" Zack said quietly.

"I've… got a hunch," I said. "I think Ven is this way… maybe…" I started shooting through the stars in that direction.

"Maybe, huh?" Zack said. "Hey, Aqua."

"Hmm?" I turned to him.

Zack clasped my shoulders and tugged my face onto his, kissing me like I never imagined I could be kissed. Lips and tongue and teeth moved together for many minutes, as the glider continued to propel itself without my guidance.

We broke apart, and Zack looked over my expression with satisfaction.

"Space snogging," he said simply.

I nodded, unable to think. "Space snogging," I repeated.

I paused, noticing something black moving against the purple of the lanes. "Zack, what's that?" I asked, pointing.

He turned, and instantly tensed up, his hand reaching for the pommel of his sword. "Just your standard space-faring Heartless," he said calmly. "…And Nobodies," he added.

I squinted, the figures becoming clearer. The difference between them was striking; the Heartless, those with round yellow eyes, were gliding toward us in a straight line, while the Nobodies, pale in color and moving erratically, were slinking around for a flanking maneuver.

"Do they always work together?" I asked Zack.

"It's not unheard of," Zack said. "But… call it disconcerting. Both breeds working together—even not trying to kill each other—I'd say that suggests a commander with more than the usual amount of darkness."

"I see…" I muttered. I looked around at the advancing enemies, obviously coming our way. Not that I'd have ignored them if they were going a different way. "I _hate_ these kinds of battles."

"Yeah, me too," Zack said. His tone told me his feelings were quite the opposite. "Toss me, would you?"

"Um… sure," I said.

"Just don't get killed," he added. "'Cause if you die and I don't, I'll just be floating here for all eternity, and that'll… you know, get boring."

"Uh-huh," I said dryly. "Let's do this."

I tossed him off to the left, then glided into the Heartless, cutting them on the edges of the craft. At first, I fought with the intention of keeping them on their toes, but I quickly realized there was no need. The Heartless were pure savages, their only strategy being "attack-attack-attack". I went with it, blasting them mercilessly with the energy from the glider's bow.

I spun around to check on Zack, and he was holding his own against the Nobodies, who I recognized as careful and conniving in their attacks. I started shooting beams at those coming at him from the rear, and came in closer when he started being flanked.

Zack grabbed my hand, and he drove through them with his boot. He started to loosen his grip, and I yelled, "No!", tugging him back to me.

A large, turquoise spacecraft was zipping through the Lanes, straight at us. The tip of its nose passed over us, and the back of Zack's head was scraped against its hull. Blood splattered against the painted metal.

"Aqua," he said in a frail voice.

"Zack!"

A blow on the back of my head loosened my hold on Zack, and he floated away from me, followed by the tailfin of the ship, the thing that had clipped my head.

My fading mind drifted away from Zack. My last thought was, _I gotta stop getting knocked out like this. It's not healthy…_

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I came back to consciousness slowly, on a cold metallic surface.

"Eh?" said a deep, slurred voice. "What's that?"

I lifted my head gently, and tensed when an unusual face loomed over me. It was bright red and had a bald, domed head, and huge round eyes that were pure blue. There was no nose, and its mouth was covered by four flexible tentacles.

"Hooray, you're alive!" the creature said in a softly accented voice. "Ha-ha, they said they were scared to see me practicing medicine! They thought I didn't have the manual dexterity!" A huge claw clacked in my face, and I flinched away, taking in his whole appearance. He was rotund, and wore a white coat and a stethoscope around his neck.

This alien creature had revived me? I felt a bit queasy.

"But I showed them!" he continued, posing grandly. "All hail the medical prowess of Zoidberg!" He had been talking to himself throughout most of this, and was facing away from me.

"Um… excuse me?" I muttered. "Dr. Zoidberg?"

He turned. "Yes?"

"My companion…" I said. "Did you save _him_ too?"

"The soldier guy?" Zoidberg said, scratching his chin. "He's over here…"

I turned my head, and Zack was on an operating table identical to mine. He shifted, then catapulted to a sitting position. The first thing he said was "Aqua!"

"Zack, I'm here!" I said quickly.

Zack turned his head. He saw Zoidberg before he saw me, and cried out in fear, backing himself against the wall.

"Yes!" Zoidberg said, pumping his claws into the air. "One day, my patients surviving will be the norm, not the exception!"

"Wha… wha… what now?" Zack demanded.

"Dr. Zoidberg saved us," I told Zack. "A ship hit us… doctor, where are we now?"

"You're on the very ship that ran you down, of course," Zoidberg said. "Let me take you to the bridge."

Zoidberg led us down a hall. Doors opened automatically as we approached them. Finally, we entered a large cockpit, its windshield displaying the purple swirls and whipping stars of the Lanes Between, and its interior filled with panels and blinking lights.

"Oh, hey!" came a high-pitched voice.

A young man ran toward us, clad in a red jacket and black pants. His orange hair was done in two upward-facing spikes.

"Hey there," he said. "Welcome to the Planet Express Ship. I'm Phillip J. Fry, delivery boy, first class. But just call me Fry."

I was still a bit absent from my unconsciousness, but I noticed something alarming about Fry. A heart of light, powerful and strong. If that wasn't unusual enough, there was also something peculiar about his soul. That underrepresented third ingredient to a living being, the thing that keeps ahold of intellect and memories, as opposed to the more primal and emotional facilities of the heart. As far as I could tell, Fry had _none_. No soul at all.

"Hi," I said, my head feeling clearer. "I'm Aqua."

Zack shook Fry's hand. "Zack Fair," he said.

"It's good you're awake," Fry said. "Can I offer you a seat?"

I shook my head. "I'm good."

"Here, let me show you around," Fry said. "This is my best friend Bender."

What had appeared to be a pillar of metal turned to us. It was some sort of metal man, with coiling arms and legs; it had a cylindrical head, its eyes a joined pair of goggles, a rectangular mouth filled in by an electrical grid, and a single antenna facing upward.

"Whoa," Zack said. "What's that, some kind of robot?"

"_Some_ kind of robot?" the metal man said angrily. "Bite my shiny metal ass! I'm the _best_ kind of robot there is."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "And what kind is that?"

"I'm a bender," Bender said simply. He held up a lead pipe and bent it easily.

"Nice," Zack said uneasily.

"And here's Leela, our captain," Fry said, indicating the driver's seat. A woman was at the wheel, facing away from us, her only distinguishing feature, apart from her comely figure, her wildly purple hair held in a high ponytail.

"Leela, the guys you ran down are awake," Fry said.

"Great," she said. "Tell them not to distract me. I need pure focus when I'm driving; you know I have no depth perception."

She turned to us briefly in her flicker of irritation, and we saw that the center of her face, distracting from her otherwise attractive features, was occupied by a single gigantic eye.

"We're Planet Express," Fry said, turning back to me and Zack. "We make inter-world cargo deliveries in this sector."

The cockpit doors opened a second time, and a crowd of people entered.

"Oh, here's the rest of the crew," Fry said. "Everybody, here's our patients, Zack and Aqua. Here's our boss, the Professor—" An old, bald man with mottled skin nodded at us, his eyes invisible behind thick glasses. "Our accountant, Hermes—" A chubby, dark-skinned man, beady eyes blinking behind square shades. "Long-term intern Amy—" A cute young woman with wild black hair and a nondescript pink sweatsuit. "Our wise advisor and part-time mascot, Nibbler—" A tiny, black-furred monkeylike creature, wearing a red cape and with a third eye mounted on a stalk atop its head. "And, um… um…" Fry paused, seemingly at a loss to identify the sleepy-eyed man with the bushy gray mustache, leaning on a broom.

"I'm Scruffy," he drawled. "The janitor."

"Oh, of course," Fry said. "Right, you're in my cell phone."

The weary old Professor shuffled forward in his bedroom slippers. "What brings you travelers to our sector?" he asked.

"Well, um…" I began, wondering how safe it was to divulge this information.

"You got the Keyblade," Scruffy said.

I stepped back in surprise. "How did you know?"

He only blinked at me. "Scruffy knows," he said simply.

"Well… yes," I said, conjuring my blade.

The Professor tapped his toe impatiently. "Your business?" he asked.

"We're looking for another Keyblade wielder," Zack said boldly. "Guy named Ventus. We _might_ be on his trail. Have you seen him?"

Fry thought about it. "I don't think so," he said. "But he must be around."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

Fry shrugged. "Well, how big can the universe be?"

I pondered that question. The answer hit me—_hard_. I felt around with my hand, trying to find the seat that had been offered me. I located it and sat down, burying my face in my hands. I knew _exactly_ how big the universe could be. I'd _never_ find Ventus. Ever.

"Aqua?" Zack whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Doom," I said. "Nothing but doom."

"What my profoundly dim-witted uncle means," the Professor said hastily, shooting Fry a nasty look, "is that over the course of the next week, our world is the locale of the annual Futurama Festival. Everyone comes to the festival. If your friend is a world traveler and he's in the sector, I'm sure you'll find him there."

I looked up, grasping at this glimmer of hope. A tiny smidgen of light is still light, after all. "_Everyone_ comes there?" I said.

"Well, everyone who's not a jive sucker," the Professor said.

I looked up at Zack, and he smiled at me. "Ven's pretty hip," he said.

"He was twenty years ago," I muttered. "Is he still?"

"Oh, sure he is," Fry cut in. "Me, I was cryogenically frozen for a _thousand_ years. So your friend has nothing to worry about, 'cause I'm still cool."

I looked around for confirmation. "He's not," Bender said in a stage whisper.

We broke the world boundary then. The world was something to behold, as through the windshield I witnessed enormous skyscrapers, flying cars and people traveling through tubes—all of it decorated with banners proclaiming the Futurama Festival.

Zack turned to me. "What do you think?"

I thought things over. My current path hadn't gotten me anywhere. "New plan," I finally said. "We're going to stay in one place." I held up the Wayfinder. "We'll let Ven come to us."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

I've had a revelation. The _Kingdom Hearts_ continuity… is really, really hard to understand. That finally occurred to me. So, I'm gonna take it easy from here on in and let my own "post-_Coded_, pre-_3D_" universe interpretation flow as it will, no matter what revelations come my way. Maybe I'll even start _KHNG_ before the worlds of _3D_ are announced.


	16. Recovery, Reunion, Regret

**Aqua Mortis**

I've been working with a 20-chapter model for this story. This being chapter 16, you might worry about things being rushed, but it won't. If my model is correct, these last four chapters will be… long. I could alter the model of the story, but… you know, don't feel like it. I'm inflexible with myself.

**Recovery, Reunion, Regret**

The cute young intern, Amy, led me, Zack, Bender, Leela, and Fry through the Futurama Festival. I was optimistic; any moment, my Wayfinder would give a little jolt and I'd follow it straight to Ventus, I knew it.

So I allowed myself to enjoy the attractions; there was no shortage of them. There was more hustle and bustle here than any other world I'd ever seen.

It came as an unwelcome surprise when a few little, yellow-eyed creatures dropped from the sky and began gamboling around the festival.

"Hey, look, Heartless," Fry said. "Are they part of the Festival?"

One of the small creatures tackled a civilian, withdrawing the person's heart.

"Evidently not," I said, drawing my blade.

From above, an invisible fleet of white gummi ships dropped their shields, revealing they covered almost the entire sky. Holograms emerged from each one, depicting a warty, frog-like alien with vicious tusks.

"Greetings, puny humans!" the creature bellowed. "I am Lrrr, ruler of Omicron-Persei-8! Tremble in fear at my three different kinds of ships and my army of Heartless!"

Blasters began firing at the surrounding buildings, and more Heartless marched down the street.

"What—" I stammered. "What is happening?"

"Oh, that's Lrrr," Leela said. "Ruler of Omicron-Persei-8. He does this every couple of months."

"Like the Professor said," Amy added. "Everybody comes to the Futurama Festival. He said everybody, and he meant everybody."

"The Heartless are new, though," Fry said. "He's not usually this enthusiastic."

Leela tapped the buttons on a metal device wrapped around her forearm. "According to this thing I always wear on my wrist, Lrrr's mothership is over Madison Cube Garden. That's where the Heartless are coming from."

I looked in the direction of her point. The largest of the ships was indeed hovering over a squat building in a park.

I drew my Keyblade. "Then that's where we're going."

"With you all the way, Aqua," Zack said.

"Ooh," Bender interrupted. "You're going after Lrrr? Can I be a temporary, world-exclusive party member?"

I blinked. "Um… sorry?"

"Video-game terminology, think nothing of it," Bender said, waving a hand. "But I can help you! Check this out—I've got my pirate-themed cutlass, laced with the finest electromatter." He drew the cutlass from behind his back, and its cutting edge was indeed covered in some pink material.

"Electromatter?" Zack said curiously. "What's that?"

"Matter's bad-ass grandma," Bender said enthusiastically. "Nothing in the universe it can't cut through! And I have the special power of limb extension—"

One of his arms uncoiled to snatch a beer bottle out of the hand of a passerby across the street, which Bender downed in a mere second.

"Plus, I got _this_ goin' on," Bender concluded. The door on his chest opened and closed independently on its hinges a few times.

Zack and I exchanged glances.

"…Okay, we're doing this," I said. "To Madison Cube Garden, then!"

I sprinted down the street, Zack and Bender flanking me. We cut through the rampaging Heartless and dodged the fleeing citizens, making our way as quickly as we could to the cube-shaped structure. From the largest ship, Heartless were pouring out one by one and landing on the roof.

"Bender, is there a way up there?" I asked.

"Yeah, great place for a party," he replied. "Come on."

He led us into the building and the rows of grandstands, cutting our way through the organized line of Heartless. Backstage there was a flight of stairs leading right to the smooth black roof.

"Lrrr!" I called up to the white ship. "Get down here and fight face-to-face!"

He dropped down. He was even uglier in person: nine feet tall and rotund, with a lumpy, spiny back and wrapped in a red cape. He brandished a blaster gun.

"Come on, then!" he bellowed. "Let's not bother to ham it up—WE BEGIN COMBAT IMMEDIATELY!"

"All right, boss battle!" Bender said enthusiastically.

Lrrr shot his blaster at me, and I rolled out of the way. As he swung his gun toward me, Zack and Bender charged him, swiping with their swords. I took a moment to breathe, then leapt in after them as Lrrr swished his cape around and it acted as a shield, blasting Zack and Bender aside.

I delivered a few blows to his enormous gut, dazing him briefly, until he pulled his gun on me yet again. I wouldn't have a change to dodge, so I cast Barrier, despite the disquieting knowledge that the spell didn't work against everything.

The green laser was deflected off me and took the breath away from Lrrr once again, knocking him backward into Zack's waiting arms. Zack curved his arm around Lrrr's neck, pressing his sword against the ugly alien's throat.

"Giving up yet, big guy?" Zack said cheerfully.

Lrrr roared in rage. "FINE! My conquest of Distant Future shall have to wait! I return now to Omicron-Persei-8 to catch the end of a thousand-year-old Jay Leno monologue!"

With another swish of his cape, he was gone, and his fleet of white spaceships retreated into portals all around the sky.

"Nice work!" Bender said cheerfully. "He's never been defeated that fast. And with so little damage to public property too!"

"Hold up, vagrants!" came an authoritative voice.

Zack and I whirled on our heels, facing a square-jawed, blond-haired man dressed in a short red tunic that exposed his legs.

"And who are you?" I said, dipping my Keyblade to the ground.

"General Zapp Brannigan," he proclaimed. "And I don't know where you come from, but around here we don't approve of vigilante justice. Superheroes are fun and everything, but they cause a lot of collateral damage."

"What?" I said. "But we haven't caused any damage to the city at all. We saved it! The fleet is gone."

"Mm… yes," Brannigan said. "But I'm authorized to obey the letter of the law, if not the spirit. I'll have to place you three under arrest."

"You must be joking," I said.

"Not going to come quietly?" he said, grinning toothily. "I'll have to call for backup." He spoke into his watch. "Kif! You there?"

A soft voice sighed from within the watch. "Yes, sir," it grumbled quietly.

"Get down to Madison Cube Garden, and bring the other guy," Brannigan declared. "I'm having trouble apprehending some felons."

"Right away, sir," said the soft voice.

"Nothing like old-fashioned justice against the neutral foreigners," Brannigan said with a smirk.

Fry, Leela, and Amy caught up to us then, coming into the open from the stairwell.

"Zapp!" Leela declared.

"You know him?" I asked her.

"We've… crossed paths," Leela said bitterly.

"Was that before or after you slept with him?" Bender said cheerfully.

"What are you doing here, Zapp?" Leela demanded, ignoring Bender.

"I'm just arresting these vagrants," Zapp replied with another saucy grin. "Of course, if they mean anything to you…"

"Not gonna work, Zapp," Leela said. "I've acted out of pity before, but I've come to realize you're a fat pig." She turned to me. "Seriously, he's fat. He wears a girdle."

A small flying machine entered then, and two people dropped in to flank Brannigan. One of them was dressed in the same red tunic as him, but this man was short and green-skinned, with a bulbous head, flat nose, and sticky three-fingered hands. The other was taller than anyone else present, and completely concealed behind what looked peculiarly like Keyblade Armor.

"Kiffie!" Amy said, delighted. She rushed to the little green man to embrace him.

"Oh, Amy!" he said, surprised—he was the owner of the soft voice that had spoken to Brannigan in the communicator watch. "I've missed you, my sweet."

"They're all yours, bounty hunter," Brannigan said to the armored figure. "Place them under arrest."

The man stepped forward in a very apparent battle stance, his right hand held far behind his body. As I stared at him with apprehension, he produced from behind his back a small, many-toothed, falchion-shaped Keyblade.

My legs shook, my palms going instantly sweaty. "Ventus?" I demanded shakily.

The figure hesitated.

"_Ven?_ Is that really you?" My knees started knocking together. This was happening too fast…

"Aqua?" the figure said. "Aqua—oh. General Brannigan, I can vouch for these guys. They're cool… Aqua, I can't believe this!"

He ran to embrace me, nearly knocking me down. I hugged him, realizing he was taller than me—not by much, but enough. "Oh, Ventus," I muttered, my vision being blocked by tears.

"Hmm…" Brannigan muttered. "Ventus—Kif, is that his name?"

Kif disentangled himself from Amy and sighed exhaustedly again. "Yes, sir."

"Hmm. All this time I've just been calling him 'Backwards Hands Guy'…"

"Aqua, why… why are you here?" Ventus asked.

"I'm looking for _you_," I said quietly. "I have been for six months… where have you been?" I pushed him away, to look into his concealed eyes.

"I've been… waking up," Ven said slowly. "I woke in a white room. I was lost and alone. But out there in the distance, I saw creatures of darkness—Unversed, Heartless, Nobodies, Midghosts…" He sighed. "All I had was the Keyblade, and I used it. I've… I've always dreamed of mastering the Keyblade, but only in this solitude did I truly learn what it's actually for."

"Ventus, if you'd stayed in that chamber, I would have been there for you," I said. "I never would have wanted to miss you waking up…"

"I'm so sorry," he replied. I heard tears well up in his throat.

"Ven…" I whispered. "Let me see your face, brother."

"Oh… sure."

Ven tapped his shoulder and his armor dissolved. As his visor vanished, I gasped, my eye drawn to the feather-shaped scar running down the left side of his face, from around the middle of his forehead to below his lips.

I could only sob.

"What's wrong?" he said lightly. "Is it my hair?"

I choked a laugh out between heaves. "It is, actually…" I realized, ripping my attention from the scar. "It's different."

"Had the urge," Ven said. "Couldn't tell you why I changed it to this particular style, but…"

"I can," I said. "You have the same hair as Sora."

He frowned with mild recognition. "…Sora?"

"Except the beard," I noted. "Sora doesn't have a beard… or he could by now, I haven't seen him for months…"

Ven stroked his goatee, bristly and a darker blond than his hair. I noticed that there were spots on his beard and one eyebrow where the hair wouldn't grow, because those spots were overlapped by the scar…

"Where did you get that scar?" I asked him.

He touched it. "Got it from my first Midghost. The eyes took me in for one second, I dropped my defenses. It got me with its finger."

"Mm," I said sympathetically.

"It's fine. Anyway, about the beard—I first tried the soul-patch and mustache combo like Eraqus, but I was too pale to really pull it off, so I went with more of an 'Ansem the Wise' look. You ever heard of him?"

I nodded. I'd seen depictions of him in Radiant Garden, ages ago, though as far as I could recall I'd never met the man in person.

"He still around, Ansem?" Ven said conversationally.

"I wouldn't know," I told him. "I've only been back as long as you have."

Ventus blinked. "What… what does that mean, 'back'?"

"I fought Xehanort," I said. "He'd stolen Terra's heart and body. To save Terra's life, I had to cast myself into a dark realm… I was stuck there twenty years. I was released at the same time you awoke."

"Twenty years, huh?" Ven said. "I thought it was something like that."

"I've been after you nonstop," I said. "Me and Zack…"

Ven looked over at Zack, who was in conversation with Zapp Brannigan.

"So," Brannigan said. "The Keyblade wielder is your woman?"

"Yep," Zack said, punctuating the word with a squat.

"Yeah? Which one?" Brannigan asked.

"Um… the woman one," Zack said, surprised.

"Ah. Just making sure."

Ven looked back at me. "You and Zack…?"

I nodded.

"How far've you gone?" Brannigan asked, leaning in with interest.

"Well, I can tell you she's a natural blue, if you know what I mean," Zack said.

"I don't," Brannigan said with another saucy grin. "Please explain."

"ZACK!" I shrieked, chucking my Keyblade at him like a javelin. He batted it away and it returned to my hands. Both of us started laughing, but Ventus looked mortified.

"Wha… what the heck has he been doing with you?" he demanded.

"Oh, it's not what you think," I said. "Zack and I are in love."

Zack sidled up to me. "Are we really?"

"Well, _I _think so," I said anxiously. "What do you think?"

Zack looked Ventus over. "I think I'm so in love that if I went up to a macho man like Ven here and explained to him exactly how in love I am, he'd just puke."

Ven laughed, and Zack clapped both him and me on the shoulders.

"So, now we've gotta find Terra," he said seriously.

"Terra?" Ven repeated. "Where… where is he?"

"I don't know," I said. "But he exists, I'm certain of that. And now that I've found you, Ven… we'll find out how to get to him in no time."


	17. Love of Many

**Aqua Mortis**

It's my birthday! I'm 19, and wishing I could divert _all_ of my attention to my Kingdom Hearts fanfic. Too bad life doesn't work like that.

Anyway, _lots_ going on in this chapter. You might think it's too big for one chapter, but I also think it's too small to be several. Your mileage may vary.

**Love of Many**

Mine and Ven's reunion went on for some time as we came to rest in the Planet Express office. My mind was still reeling from the simple, wonderful notion that I had my Ven back again.

Fry was munching on an enormous bacon sandwich which generated a seemingly endless supply of crumbs to the ground.

"Fry!" Hermes snapped as he passed by. "By de greenest snakes of de tallest sugarcanes, stop makin' a mess of your crumbs every day! It's attractin' owls!"

"Sorry, Hermes," Fry said, half-heartedly wiping the table.

"You know, I've crossed paths with Planet Express a few times in my work," Ven whispered to me. "I never noticed before, but Fry is a bit unusual, isn't he?"

I nodded. "He is."

"He has a heart of light, almost like a Princess," Ven observed. "But his mind is so subdued as to be undetectable—almost as if it doesn't exist."

"Well done, Ven," I said. "You should be made a Master just for that. I've made the same observations… I've been planning to investigate. Though I wouldn't compare him to a Princess to his face."

Ven laughed aloud. "Good call. But I guess… shouldn't really let it occupy us too much. We've gotta find Terra."

"Mm-hmm," I muttered. I held out my blue Wayfinder, rolling it between my fingers absently. Ven nodded at it with a smile. I smiled back at him, then hurled the charm straight at the nearest trash can.

"Aqua!" Ven exclaimed. He dove into a roll, intercepting the Wayfinder before it landed.

Ven walked slowly back to me, incredulous. "Aqua, why would you do something like that?"

"It doesn't work," I said. "I thought I could use it to find you, but I had no idea where you were until you were right in front of my face."

"Well, of course," Ven said. "You can't expect the magic to work just like that." He produced his own charm, the green one, from his pockets. "There are greater forces at work here. If you'd found me straightaway…" He ran a hand along his scar. "I would _never_ have learned exactly what my purpose was. It was the solitude that did it for me… And you can't say you're sorry for what happened on your search."

"What do you mean?"

Ven pointed over my shoulder. "You know what I mean."

I turned, and was greeted by an alarming faceful of Zack, planting a kiss on me. "Sometimes fate works in mysterious ways," Zack said. "Other times… not so much. It's pretty clear who I was supposed to meet."

I felt a blush sneak its way past my cheeks and clear to my nose. "Yeah…" I said. "My heart would be so lost without you, Zack…"

"I _have_ been helpful, right?" he asked. "I've accepted that if you and I fought I'd have my ass handed to me, but… in a tough situation, it's still nice to have me at your back, right?"

"Oh, absolutely!" I said. "No, you've saved my ass plenty of times."

Ven scratched his head. "Is it me, or are you guys saying 'ass' more than usual?"

Zack shrugged. "We've been hanging out with Bender for like a day. He rubs off on you."

Ven offered my Wayfinder back to me, and I took it. In a moment of weakness, I'd attempted to toss it, but I realized Ven was right about nothing happening by accident.

I closed my fingers around the star-shaped charm. It felt _right_, being in my hand, almost as natural as the Keyblade.

"Hey," Ven said abruptly. "We got trouble." He nodded out the front window, and I turned in the direction of his gaze a second time.

Midghosts. An entire horde of them.

"Never ends, does it?" I said, pocketing my Wayfinder.

"Wouldn't be much of a life if it did," Zack said, tugging his sword from his back.

"Let's get this over with," I said. "Bender, are you in?"

"Shut up, baby, you know it," Bender said, twirling his pink-edged cutlass with impossible speed.

"Yeah, anyone able-bodied that we could get will be helpful," I said. "Zoidberg, how about you?"

"No, I'm good," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"Okay then."

It was just the four of us then—me, Zack, Ven, and Bender. I kicked down the front door and ran into the streets, bloodying a good dozen of the Midghosts in a matter of seconds, my Keyblade moving faster than my thoughts, its power, as the legends say, not my own.

Pausing for a breather, I felt pointed fingers on my neck, and realized with horror that I had severed a Midghost's arm, and the arm was doing its best to take me down. I cast a fire spell, and the hand withered away into nothingness.

Bender was slashing through those I had already felled, hoping to keep them down until such a time as they could be burned. I noticed one skulking behind Bender's back, but before I could call out his name, it had dissipated into a pale gray gas, then vanished.

Bender beamed at me, then looked confused, then began hopping around in pain. I rushed to his side at his front-hatch opened, expelling the once again fully-formed Midghost.

"Damn, Midghosts fight dirty!" Bender said. "Fortunately, I've never been all that clean myself."

Bender began puffing on a cigar, and with his other hand bashed the Midghost over the head with the flat edge of his cutlass, then corkscrewed his way into its gut. When the Midghost's eyes faded, Bender dropped his cigar on it and it burned away.

"Well done, Bender," Zack said, snuffing out the flames on his sword. "At least they're easy to clean. I thought they weren't at first, but now that I know to burn them—WHOA!"

Zack had cried out in alarm and quickly began to pound down the street. Looking in that direction, I saw Ven… two Midghosts had pinned his hands behind his back, and a third was strangling him. Ven struggled, but his scarred face was already going blue. Zack was belting down the road toward him, and I quickly began doing the same, but it seemed that somehow the battle had taken him too far away from us.

When Ven managed a splutter and I felt like the last bit of hope was gone from me, a flaming wheel zipped past Ven, cutting his strangler in half and incinerating it at the same time. The wheel spun in mid-air for a moment before turning around to the grasp of a tall man with spiky crimson hair.

The man stepped forward, and I noticed that his eyes were a striking green, and beneath them were a pair of tattooed teardrops. He wore a sleeveless orange coat, khaki pants, and a murky yellow bandanna around his neck. The fire around the wheel faded away, revealing its wicked red-and-silver points, and he held an identical weapon in his other hand.

"You all right?" he said smoothly to Ven.

"Yeah, thanks," Ven replied.

"No trouble," the man said, looking away wistfully. "Boy, did Naminé ever call it. 'Follow the Midghosts', she says—and if we can't trust her judgment at this point…"

That sparked my interest, but Ven apparently couldn't make heads or tails of this statement. He squinted at his rescuer, still rubbing his throat, and said, "Wait a minute… Lea?"

"Aw, you remembered. It's Axel, actually. Get it memorized."

"But…" Ven stammered. "Then you _are_ Lea!"

"Head down," Axel said, pressing his hand to Ven's forehead and shoving him downward, whipping one of his weapons at a Midghost who had been about to tackle Ventus.

I grasped Zack's shoulder. "This must mean Sora is here…" I said. "I wonder why he's acting as Axel, if…"

"Eh, sorry," someone said from behind me. "It's just us right now."

I spun, facing Roxas—I retreated in alarm slightly, realizing he looked more like an adult Ven than Ven did—and a black-haired woman in a denim skirt and white blouse.

"Hello again, Master Aqua," Roxas said.

"It's good to see you," I muttered. "And… are you Xion?"

"I am," she replied solemnly. "I'm honored to meet you."

"I don't understand," I said. "I wasn't aware you could leave Sora's body…"

"We can't," Roxas said. "We've lived within his heart for ten years knowing that it's impossible."

"But—"

"But we're standing right in front of you," Roxas agreed. "It's a miracle, Master Aqua. We're free now, all of us."

I had barely a second to be happy for them, when a full-out Midghost army swarmed.

Roxas and Xion produced their Keyblades—Roxas' was silver with a multicolored, star-shaped blade, Xion's thick and black. Roxas charged off, but Xion stayed nearby, giving me a wry smile.

"I know," I said. "I was just wondering, myself, if the worlds would ever run out of monsters."

"Pray that they don't, or we're out of a job," Xion said.

I nodded to her. "Are you any good with that blade?"

"I'm fantastic," she replied, with such confidence that I actually stepped back from her in fear. "But Roxas is better, as it turns out." She raised her voice—hardly necessary, considering that Midghosts are completely silent. "ROXAS! Oblivion coming your way."

She flung her Keyblade at Roxas, and he caught it in his left hand. "Thank you!" he said, in sharp tones identical to Ven—even though I completely understood the circumstances, it was a bit eerie.

Ven seemed to notice as well, spinning on his heel to look Roxas in the face.

"Whoa," Ven said. "I'd love to hear this explained."

"And I'd like to explain it," Roxas said with a slight bow. "But this isn't really the time. Shall we go back-to-back, Master Ventus?"

Ventus smirked. "Sure, friend."

Ven spun his Keyblade around one finger, summoning a vast whirlwind. Roxas followed up by shooting jets of light from his dual Keyblades, which mixed in with the swirling tornado, tearing apart any Midghost that dared to approach too closely.

Zack ignited his blade. "Come on," he said. "They won't be doing any good if we don't flame the bodies."

"Right," I said. I started casting fireballs in a subdued sort of way, keeping my eye on our new arrivals.

After the swirl of light dissipated, Roxas whipped the black Keyblade back to Xion, who joined in the battle.

Axel tapped Zack's shoulder. "Let's end this," he said. The wheels in his hands began to burn.

"And the Keyblade?" Zack said uncertainly.

"We'll have them come to us," Axel replied.

Roxas and Xion heard him, running toward him. Axel ducked down and they vaulted off his back to land on Zack's shoulders. I understood what was meant to happen, and I took Ven's hand. Together, we stood atop Axel's shoulders and he pressed his back, now burning just as much as his weapons, against Zack's.

"Fire," I said solemnly. I heard Ventus, Roxas, and Xion echo the word around me. Our flames fused with those on Zack's sword and Axel's chakrams, and burst into an immense mushroom cloud, immolating the surrounding Midghosts as the six of us had to close our eyes from the brightness of our united attack.

I opened my eyes again, and no matter how much I blinked I couldn't see a thing, and I wondering if perhaps the magic had been _too_ powerful, until I heard a loud "WOO-HOO, BABY!"

"Bender?" I muttered.

"'Course it's Bender," he said. His cylindrical shape started to come into focus, and I realized that I was on the ground next to Ven.

Leela and Fry stood over us. "You taught those Midghosts a thing or two," Fry said. "It was pretty cool."

"Yeah, I'm impressed," Leela agreed.

"What are you _doing_ here?" I said to Roxas.

He shrugged. "Well, word is the Futurama Festival is the place to be."

"Oh, yeah," Leela said. "Everybody comes here."

Axel helped Ven to his feet. "Hey there, Ven-Ven," he said. "Good to see you again."

"You too… um, Axel," Ven said.

"Ah, yeah!" Axel said reminiscently. "I _was_ Lea… I was." He turned to Roxas and Xion. "Can't recall if I've told you two this before, but years and years ago, I met Ven here, challenged him… I was a young fool. Got my ass kicked. But I think I've developed…" he added, turning to Ven again. "What would you say to another fair fight as a rematch, zuk-zuk?"

"Um, well," Ven began, "if I can find the time…"

"Zuk-zuk?" Axel said forcefully, pressing the point of his chakram to Ven's throat.

"Um, yeah, zuk-zuk," Ven said hurriedly. "So, I take it you've been…"

"Castle of Dreams," Axel agreed, nodding. "Not long after we met, took a little field trip. Break the boundary and for some reason, I'm tiny. Isa gets to go to a royal wedding, while I'm helping a mouse put together the cake, which we need a tiny little crane to do… Isa and I had a good laugh about it. This was before… well… I'd already realized I could do a lot better than Isa. Took all of five minutes with these mooks here…" He tugged both Roxas and Ventus into a crushing hug, where Ventus, having received no explanation for being face-to-face with his doppelganger, looked concerned.

I chuckled. "Axel's pretty funny," I commented.

"Yeah," Xion said. "There was a time when he wasn't… right after the miracle happened, he wasn't so sure that's what it was. He hated it. He thought it meant we were Nobodies again… but he was wrong, Aqua." She looked at me with a smile. "Years of exposure to a heart like Sora's, we were reborn having developed hearts of our own. He's accepted now, that maybe he'll never be Lea again, but he's… someone. Maybe he's Sora. Seems like a lot of people are Sora these days."

I laughed. "That's probably true."

"I _love_ this new life I have," Xion said. "Despite… well, even though…" She looked at Roxas with her eyes full of sorrow, then shook her head. "But it's good to be out in the real worlds. You could say it's a second chance… but for me, it's really a first life. I'm so free, Aqua. And I'm _me_. No one can claim that they see a puppet, or someone who I'm not, when they look upon me. People see me as I see myself."

I looked her over. I noted her facial resemblance to Kairi, but she was younger, her body more petite.

"You must think highly of yourself, then, because you're adorable," I said finally.

Xion giggled, which was slightly jolting after her solemn tones for much of her speech. "That's the nicest thing I've heard in a while. But Axel, he just wouldn't believe, even when it was right in front of his eyes, that he _did_ have emotions, that he truly did care, that he was a Somebody again."

"What convinced him?" I asked.

"He fell in love," Xion replied, somewhat bitterly.

"Yeah, that would do it," I said, remembering how lost and ripped my heart had been before finding Zack, and how I had fallen for him almost by trying to, anything to restore who I had truly been; who, thanks to Zack, I was again.

I beamed at Zack, to share my thoughts with him, and found him gazing in horror at the sky. A portal had opened there, but not the kind that was traversed by Keyblade glider; it stretched across almost the entire sky, ripping and tearing the air in a jagged lightning-bolt shape, the colors of the sunset interrupted by its blinding white.

An enormous pink tentacle emerged from the rip, then another and another. The people in the bustling city were pausing, to stare and scream and point as the tentacles emerged. One tentacle, thinner than the others, sprouted a toothy mouth and spoke.

"Greetings, beings of Distant Future!" Its voice was frail and androgynous, but projected enough to silence everyone in the city. "I am Yivo. In your universe, you are many, but in my universe, I am the only thing in existence. I was content with myself for a trillion years until one day, I witnessed the birth of Kingdom Hearts, the birth of _all_ worlds… and I was like, 'Whoa. Who's that?' And so I have been watching the tides that bind all your worlds together, and I have come to realize that I am lonely. I am no longer content to admire your universe from afar. I must have you… and I must have you now."

The tentacles stopped in their slow, peaceful waving and quickly hurled themselves at the city, wrapping around buildings.

"By the stars," Zack whispered. "What is _happening_…?"

I noticed out of the corner of my eye as the remainder of the Planet Express crew emerged onto the street to gaze up at the attacking tentacles.

"Sweet zombie Jesus!" the Professor gasped.

"Am I mistaken here," Axel muttered, "or is this Yivo creature planning to bang out a quick one with the universe?"

"That's what it sounds like," I said. I drew my Keyblade. "But I think our universe is going to save itself for a better candidate. Let's show him what it means to be—"

"Show _shkler_," Hermes corrected.

"Part of a—I'm sorry, what?" I said, staring at him.

"Well, a cosmic entity like dat obviously has no gender," Hermes said. "Instead of 'him' or 'her', we should refer to Yivo as 'shkler'."

"Um… right," I said. "Damn, lost my train of thought. Um…"

"Fight Yivo?" Zack suggested.

"Yes! That's what we're doing."

The tentacles had reached ground level, and I raised my blade over my head for a strike.

"Ah, the Keyblade!" Yivo said ecstatically. "The ultimate power of light itself—ow! What the hell, lady?"

That was in response to my having severed the speaking tentacle, but a different tentacle had quickly taken its place as speaker.

"And where did _you_ get electromatter?" Yivo demanded, whirling its speaking tentacle on Bender, who had used his cutlass to sever another tentacle. The edges of his sword were the exact same purplish-pink color as Yivo's tentacles. Bender chuckled aloud at Yivo's indignation, and resumed a slashing pattern onto every tentacle he could find.

I shot a few magical attacks at a severed tentacle which was quickly regenerating. My fellow Keyblade wielders joined in, along with Zack and his deadly sword and Axel's two chakrams. The tentacles made no effort to fight back, and Yivo evidently decided that it was time to retreat. Each tentacle slunk back into the white-hot rift it had first opened.

"Well, that went well," Zack said conversationally.

"Look!" Xion gasped, pointing at the still-open portal.

Something else had come through it, but it was no giant tentacle, but an armored figure on a Keyblade Glider. Red armor, with enormous, straight-up horns.

I dropped to my knees. "No," I whispered. "It's impossible… it couldn't be him." I burst rapidly into tears of joy. "How can it be?"

"Well, like we said," Fry offered. "Everybody comes to the Futu—nah, we milked that line to death, didn't we?"

"Completely," Bender confirmed. "In every possible variation."

The armored figure floated down to the ground and its glider vanished. It made its way through the crowd, unerringly finding me.

"Terra," I said, getting shakily to my feet. "Is that you, Terra?"

The figure shook its head.

"N… no?" I said. "But… what are you, then?"

It took its helmet off and dropped it to the pavement. There was no one within the suit, just like the remnant of Vanitas.

"Oh, Terra…" I said, more tears flowing.

"A soul with no heart _or_ body," Axel observed. "Your friend must be exceptionally strong."

I nodded. "He… he _is_ exceptional. But Terra, where is your heart? How can I fix you?"

The headless suit of armor pointed to my heart.

"Wha… me?" I stammered.

The suit of armor was suddenly flanked on both sides, by transparent apparitions of Terra and the Skull of Despair.

"That's right," Terra said, and I knew in my heart that no one else could see or hear him. "When Xehanort was destroyed, my heart was released, but it had nowhere to go. I wandered the worlds aimlessly for ten years, and then _you_ returned to the realm. I latched onto you as quickly as I could." He looked fondly at the empty armor suit. "My will, here, was a bit slower on the uptake, but it's found its way to you now. You must remove me from your heart and rejoin me with my soul. Please do it quickly, Aqua. I've missed the worlds so much…" He smiled wistfully.

Before I could reply, the giant skull cackled. "Extracting hearts," it said. "The highest skill of Masters. You may have been a Master once, but you simply don't have the material anymore. You're rusty, Master Aqua. You don't have it in you."

I slowly brought my Keyblade level with my breast.

"You're seriously going to try?" the Skull said. "Oho, I'll be very amused to see you kill yourself and Terra."

I pressed the Keyblade to my flesh.

"Though I'd rather you didn't die, actually," the Skull added hastily. "I'd have no one to taunt then, don't you know. Admit it, you're never going to stop doubting yourself. You're never going to do it."

I glared defiantly at the Skull, then with a single flick of my wrist, extracted Terra's heart from within my own. The glowing orb floated between me and the suit of armor.

"NO!" the Skull shrieked, clearly expecting that to be its last word. Its eyes darted back and forth as it realized it wasn't gone. "Of course," the Skull said with a light cackle. "The heart's not finished. How could you _possibly_ know where the rest of it is?"

The sphere did, indeed, have a large chunk taken out of it.

The see-through Terra crossed his arms and tapped a toe. "Aqua," he said. "Who else has joined hearts with you recently?"

I stared at Terra's incomplete heart, floating there, and saw immediately where the rest of it was. It was as if a beacon was displaying the location to me.

"Zack," I said, stepping up to him. "I'm going to need your help to complete Terra."

He glanced around, confused. "Why?" he said. "What's going on here, Aqua?"

"When you and I…" I paused, then lowered my voice, quite aware of the numerous friendly onlookers. "When we made love, the connection was not just physical."

"Never thought it was," he said promptly.

"I've been carrying Terra's heart within myself," I said. "And I think that, on that night, without realizing it, I tucked some of that heart into _you_ for safekeeping. And now it needs to be put back together again."

Zack eyed my Keyblade apprehensively. "You're asking me… to let you use your Keyblade on my heart? I have to trust you to handle the core of my being, my heart itself?"

"Well… yes," I said, frowning.

He grinned wildly. "If I can't trust you to do that, what the hell _can_ I trust?"

We laughed together, and with utmost care, I extracted that small piece of Terra's heart from Zack's.

"NO!" the Skull declared again. "I… I refuse—!"

As I pressed the pieces of the heart together, the apparitions on either side of Terra's armor vanished, Terra looking content, the Skull horrified. I guided the heart to within the armor. In a flash of light, the armor was gone… and in its place, swaying with each breath, eyes closed tightly…

I gasped in horror. Terra was dressed in a white lab coat, and his hair was white as well and cascaded past his shoulders.

"Xemnas?" Roxas muttered.

Axel shook his head. "Xehanort," he hissed, raising his weapons.

"At last," Terra said, eyes still closed, in a deep, gravelly voice. "I live. Flesh and blood and bone—I am alive! I swore I would scratch and crawl my way back into the world of the living, and I have done it."

My hand quivered on my Keyblade. I couldn't fight Terra again.

"This heart belongs once again to _light_," he said.

I paused.

"All worlds begin in light, and all so end. The heart is no different. Light is born within it. It expands, strengthens it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart remembers the light to which it belongs."

Terra opened his eyes. They were blue, the narrow blue eyes I'd known since I was a small child.

"Oh, Terra!" I said joyfully, hugging him tightly. "It truly is you."

"Yes, it is," he said, his gravelly voice suddenly giving in to violent coughs.

With an enormous hack, something black burst out of his mouth. It was the size of a human head and shaped like a tadpole, and it began to flutter off into the air. Terra produced the enormous Ends of the Earth and held it up like a sniper rifle, shooting a jet of light at the strange thing, which disintegrated.

"What was that?" I demanded.

"Xehanort, the last vestige of him," Terra said. "Ah, that's much better."

Indeed it was—his original, gentle voice had returned.

"Oh, I get it," Bender said. "He was doing impressions. Billy Zane, right?"

"Aqua," Terra said. "Ven! I've missed you two so much…"

My eyes widened. "Oh my… Terra, what happened to the Skull of Despair?"

He frowned. "What's that?"

"Um… don't you remember living inside my heart?" I said.

He shook his head. "I remember nothing since floating as a lone heart through the winds."

I pondered this. On a whim, I attempted to use the powers of darkness. They wouldn't come. "The Skull…" I muttered. "It was made of your darkness _and_ mine. Together in one heart, it could thrive, but now that we're separate again, individually we don't have enough darkness to sustain such a beast."

Terra looked confused, but said, "Well, I'm… glad to hear it."

Ven walked past me to hug Terra tightly. Zack stepped over to pound Terra on the shoulder.

"Hey, Zack," Terra said. "You've been taking care of Aqua for me?"

"Oh, we both know she can take care of herself," Zack said.

Terra smiled at me, and my face broke out into a violent piano—I was happier than I had been in twenty years. I had _everything_.

The rip in the sky crackled, and the great purple tentacles emerged quickly, and Yivo's voice spoke.

"The fifty billion of you are my soulmate! If I can't have you, no universe can!"

The tentacles moved in for the kill.


	18. Don't You Forget About Me

**Aqua Mortis**

Feeling suicidal, as I always do once I get my mid-term grades. The mid-terms, a.k.a. "How Much You Suck". Gotta get myself into gear for the next three months. You may ask, why didn't I just work hard for the first half of the semester? Well, I thought I _was_ working hard, but as it does twice a year, the D thrown in my face proved me wrong.

**Don't You Forget About Me**

Terra took several slow steps backward. "What… is that?" he demanded.

"A creature with an unfortunate 'thing' for Kingdom Hearts," I said earnestly. "Step up, Terra, and help me defend this world. I have an active role in this fight, personal reasons to defend all of the friends I've made here… and Zoidberg," I added tactfully.

As the tentacles wrapped around a building, crushing it, Yivo saw fit to bring its entire body over the boundary. A white, circular mass from which the tentacles grew squeezed its way through the rip in the sky, its only features one eye and a wrinkled mouth. This ugly presence hung in the sky as the tentacles rampaged.

Terra looked at me uncertainly. "You're sure about this?"

"It's our job, Terra."

"If you insist… for you," he said.

"Yes, protect the city!" the Professor proclaimed. "Hermes, Zoidberg, into the building and arm the Diamondium cannon!"

Leela drew a blaster gun from a holster. "I'll lead the ground charge," she offered.

"Lead away," Axel said, quivering with anticipation. "Let's give Yivo a beating he won't forget."

"_Shkle_ won't forget," Roxas offered.

"Come on!" Leela snapped, and a small group came after her to form an assault on the tentacles throughout the street.

"What are we doing, Aqua?" Ventus asked me.

"We should go after Yivo's central body," I said. "Maybe we can reach it from a high building…"

I pondered our options as turrets rose out of the Planet Express building, firing volleys of crystalline missiles at Yivo's flesh, creating wounds that quickly healed.

"How are we going to get…?" I began in frustration.

"Well, let's just take a tube," Bender offered.

He stepped beneath a tube set in place over a sidewalk, after a second, it sucked him straight up into the maze of see-through tubes, guided somehow straight up towards the skyscrapers.

"All right, let's do it," I said. I tentatively approached the tubes, and quickly realized it was guided by my thoughts, not taking me in until I allowed it to. I shot like a bullet through the tubes, blinded and deafened by the rushing wind as I was taken on what I could only hope was the fastest way to the skyscraper roof I had chosen.

And just like that, I was flat on my feet, Bender standing before me and Yivo's bulk floating above.

"Never used a tube before?" Bender said. "Pretty good for a—"

I was quickly taken off my feet as Terra, Ventus, and Zack dropped out of the tube directly above me. Dignified people that we are, we were out of our pile and ready for combat in seconds.

"We all good?" Zack said, adjusting the collar of his armor. "Great. Let's get him."

Seemingly unnoticed by the tentacles concentrating their efforts on the ground of the city, the five of us took immense leaps, our blades making nicks in the creature's spongy white body.

"Aagh!" Yivo cried out. "Who's down there—?"

Yivo rotated its body so the face was pointing at us, and I took the opportunity. Around me, the others were falling out of their arcs, and making myself feather-light to slow my own fall, I pushed off Terra's shoulder, then Zack's, bringing me level with Yivo yet again. I slashed at its horrid lips once, twice, and again, then finally—"Blizzard!"

The magical energy blew me downwards back to the skyscraper roof, but the ice crystals cut into Yivo's face. I landed hard, and saw the Professor's Diamondium cannon shoot another few volleys at Yivo's main body.

"You _fools!_" Yivo roared. "All I wanted is to love you all—pay the price of refusal!"

A tentacle swung outward, shattering some of the tubes and a window of a neighboring building. Another one thickened, and began to drop straight toward me. The tentacle drove me straight into the concrete roof, pinning me there.

"Aqua!" I heard someone yell.

As I struggled to free myself, I felt two other cold, slimy appendages wrap around my wrists and pull in opposite directions. I was completely helpless and about to be torn in half—not one of my proudest moments.

"You, the first to deny my love!" Yivo proclaimed. "You're first, baby!"

"Yivo, nooooo!"

Abruptly, I could breathe and see again as the large tentacle was lifted off of me. Fry had emerged from a tube and was running at full speed to Yivo's face.

"Don't do this!" Fry cried out. "Yivo, I know you're hurting right now… I know what it's like to be unlucky in love—" He turned briefly to Leela, who had emerged from a tube right after him. "And, well, I admit I've never fallen in love with an entire universe, but I know that being a giant jerk about it doesn't help! Look hard at yourself, Yivo. You won't feel better about yourself after this."

Yivo stared at him tightly.

"Maybe… maybe you and the universe can start over as friends," Fry said. "And who knows, maybe you and us can start dating. Let things take their natural course, and… and if it doesn't work out the way you want, accept that. The universe has to make its own decisions, and if you've truly loved us all these eons, you'll respect those decisions… because real love is selfless." He looked at Leela again, who gave him a small smile.

Yivo's eye gazed out over the city's skyline. After a moment of silence, it coughed. "Ugh…" it said. "The nature of your universe's vapors offends my condition. I should leave, before I shkluffocate. I'll remember what you said, Fry. You, too, are lonely, aren't you?"

Fry nodded, even as Leela stepped up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

A tear dripped from Yivo's eye. "I'll just…" it muttered. "I'll just go."

The tentacles all over the city were withdrawn back into Yivo's main body, which retreated into the rip, squeezing itself through before disappearing, and the rip itself sealed up, leaving no trace that it had ever marred the sky.

"Fry, you did it," Leela breathed. "…You."

"And I think we all learned about the true meaning of love!" Bender declared. He hugged Fry and Leela around their necks, choking them. "I love you, meatbags! Let's have a party!"

The three of them departed via tubes. I got to my feet, still winded from the battle. I looked at Zack, who gave me a thumbs-up. I blew him a kiss in return, and couldn't stop my heart leaping when he delicately caught it between his thumb and forefinger. I rotated on the spot, taking note of my surroundings…

And when I spotted Terra and Ventus, it hit me for the first time that the two of them were there, _with_ me, the three of us all together again after twenty years of suffering…

The realization was more than my heart could take. I leapt at both of them, bringing them into a tight embrace that they couldn't escape, that I didn't _want_ them to escape, for fear that I'd lose them again…

I sobbed, running my fingers through both of their hair as I muttered, "My brothers… my darling brothers… we're awake. We're alive. We're together again. Brothers…"

"Aqua—" Terra said, his voice breaking up. "I… yes. Your brothers. And we'll be together—forever this time."

"Yeah," Ven said. "Never gonna let you guys go."

"My brothers, always," I said, wiping my eyes on their shoulders.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A party was held at the Planet Express headquarters, celebrating the victory over Yivo. Confetti flew everywhere, and many, many dozens of beer bottles were circulated throughout the room.

"Master Aqua, might I have a word?"

I looked around at the sound of this deep and authoritative voice, and finally realized it had come from down by my feet. There was Nibbler, Leela's pet, his three eyes staring with more intensity than had seemed possible coming from the tiny animal I had met barely a day ago.

"What… was that you?" I demanded.

"It was," he said. "Please, I wish to discuss a matter of utmost importance."

I followed him to a secluded corner. "I didn't know you spoke," I said.

"Few do," he replied.

"Do the crew know?" I asked.

"Yes. They're not meant to, but there was this one time I forget to wipe their memories, and… it snowballed. I'm now more lax about my 'pet' cover, and have been accepted as a full crew member here at Planet Express."

"I see," I said. "So… what did you want to talk about?"

He bowed to me. "Right to the point. Well, Master Aqua, I am a member of an ancient race dedicated to the preservation of the light. I have existed since the dawn of time, and I remember the days before Kingdom Hearts was born, before the worlds became segregated, and when Distant Future was, in fact, the past.

"One thousand years ago, a prophecy spoke of one who would save us from the threat of darkness. It was determined that the person in question was one Phillip J. Fry."

"Fry?" I blurted.

"Indeed," Nibbler said seriously, though apparently understanding my shock. "You see, Fry's birth is the result of a time paradox rendering him his own grandfather. The impossibility of his very existence caused him to be born with no delta brain wave—a quality that appears to you, Keyblade Master, as possessing no soul."

"Oh," I gasped, nodding. I had forgotten about my plans to investigate this trait. So that was it… out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fry engaged in boisterous conversation with Axel, who was using his fire powers to cook a skillet of bacon.

"This superior yet inferior intellect makes Fry immune to the psionic attacks used by those who would destroy our world," Nibbler continued. "And, since his natural lifespan would not extend to the time foretold by the prophecy, I personally arranged to have him cryogenically frozen. Now… my race has become concerned, that Fry's mere immunity to the Brainspawn's powers might be… insufficient… to provide our salvation. Some of my race's elders fear him incompetent."

Axel was passing the bacon around the room, and Fry looked into the skillet. "Oh, boy, hot bacon grease!" he said. He licked it, and immediately stepped back, reeling in agony and clutching his tongue. "Oh, damn… owie, owie, ow… oh, Christ, it hurts… I'm gonna do it again." He licked the bacon grease again, to similar results.

"I understand your concern," I said to Nibbler. "So, why are you telling me this? Am I involved somehow?"

"Well…" Nibbler said slowly. "I think that Fry's, and our world's, odds of survival could be increased drastically if, perhaps, he had a mighty weapon to face the Brainspawn's darkness. If, perhaps, he possessed the Keyblade."

"Oh!" I said. "You… you want me to pass him the power?"

"If you could," Nibbler said hastily. "I know it's not something to throw around lightly."

"No, it's fine," I said. "If you think it'll help your world prevail, I'll gladly perform the rite for him."

Nibbler bowed to me again. "I cannot thank you enough, Master Aqua. Proceed."

I walked back towards the party. "Fry," I said loudly.

He looked up, still massaging the tip of his tongue. "Huh, yeah?"

I produced my Keyblade and held it out to him, hilt first. "There's something important I need to do for you," I said. "In your hand, take this key."

Fry stared at the Keyblade reverently. "…Seriously?"

"Seriously," I confirmed, nodding. "Touch it, and its power will be yours. You have a strong heart, worthy to wield the Keyblade."

Fry began to reach for it, then paused. "Um… question. When I'm a Keyblade wielder, I won't have to dress like you, will I?"

"…What?" I said blankly.

"'Cause, I'm gonna be honest, all you Keyblade guys look like you were character-designed by a deranged Japanese man, and I… I prefer the simple look, you know?" He straightened his red bomber jacket pointedly.

"No, that's… dress however you want," I said. "Just, please, touch the handle, and—"

"Hey, wait a second," Fry said, suddenly intense. "You're not roping me into some kind of celibate order, are you? 'Cause that dog won't hunt, monsignor."

I stared at him. "You honestly think I'd be standing here if—just hold the damn key, would you?" I snarled.

He took it quickly. "Thank you," I said. "So, um… yeah. In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be."

The room was silent for an interminable amount of time.

"Is that it?" Fry finally whispered.

"Yes," I said. "That'll do it."

He took his hand away from Rainfell's handle and examined it. "I don't feel any different," he muttered. "I mean, I kind of tasted something red for a second, but other than that…"

"You _are_ different," I assured him. "The Keyblade will come to you when you need it."

Leela wrapped her arms around Fry's waist. "I'm so proud of you, Fry," she said. "You've really moved up from the idiot I pulled out of the cryo tank… I mean, you're still the same idiot, but… well, you've grown a lot."

"Yeah… I know," Fry said. "It was for you. I'd pretty much do anything for you, Leela."

Roxas tapped my shoulder and I turned to him.

"Hey, I think it's time all of us left," he said. "You guys are welcome to join us on our Gummi ship, if you like."

"These guys don't _need_ a Gummi ship," Zack said, indicating me, Ven, and Terra.

"Oh, none of us do," Roxas said, grinning. "But… well, sometimes you need a long ship ride just to relax, don't you think?"

"Mm…" I said. "That's true… let's go."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

We bade goodbye to the Planet Express crew. Roxas, Axel, and Xion led Zack, Terra, Ventus and me to a concealed location on the outskirts of the city, where they had hidden their Gummi craft. Awaiting us was a tall young woman with straight blond hair, wearing a simple white dress and sandals.

"Roxas!" she called out. "You found them… I knew you would!"

Roxas took her hand. "Yeah, you pretty much called it."

The two of them embraced, and it quickly led to a kiss that was far from tender and discreet. I had to avert my eyes hastily as they dug their fingernails into each other's hair…

"So, can I drive?" Roxas mumbled.

"Not a chance. I've seen you behind the wheel of a car. You're not taking the spaceship."

"What kind of car accident could I possibly have in space?" Roxas retorted.

"Oh, I'm not taking any chances," she said, her voice fading away. I looked, and saw that the two had entered the ship.

Beside me, I felt Xion's heart reaching out to the retreating form of Roxas, aching as he vanished from sight. But I didn't need to be a Keyblade Master to know what she was feeling, because she reached out with her arm too, grasping at the air in front of her as if something tantalizing had fallen just out of reach.

"You want him," I stated.

"Yes," Xion whispered. "Ten years we share a heart, and I… I ruin it, I lose him to Naminé…" She clenched her fists and her teeth with resolve. "No, that's not accurate. He has _always_ belonged to Naminé… never to me."

As we all boarded the ship, Ventus touched Xion's hand. "I'm so sorry," he said.

Now, never let it be said that a Keyblade wielder lacks empathy—in fact, some say we possess it in supernatural quantities. So, even though I had never lost a love, I understood how it must have felt to Xion… and if I _had_ lost a love, and that love was Roxas… well, even though I would outwardly show disdain, I completely understood why her first impulse was to hit on Ventus.

"So, Ven…" she said. "Whatcha doin'?"

Ven blinked. "Um… not a whole lot…"

Naminé and Roxas sat in the dual pilot seats; the rest of us took the passenger benches that were along the edges of the craft, facing inward. Its interior was mostly steel-gray, the only decoration a mini-fridge near the back. Axel was currently sifting through the contents of its freezer.

"So, who wants ice cream?" he called to the craft at large.

"Toss 'em up front," Roxas called back. Axel flung the pale blue ice cream bars around the cabin as each person requested one.

"Aqua, how about you?" Axel said. "Sea-salt ice cream?"

"Um… is there any other kind of ice cream?" I asked him.

"Eh, we kind of stock up on sea-salt only," Axel said. "Sorry…"

"You're sure you don't have anything else?"

"Well, we've got a big-ass jar of mustard…"

"I'll take the sea-salt ice cream."

"Smart," Axel said, tossing one to me, then taking one for himself as he strapped in.

The Gummi ship reared up and then blasted off, breaking the world boundary in a second. When we had settled at a comfortable speed, I started on the ice cream. I had never come to appreciate the subtleties of sea-salt ice cream, but it was better than doing nothing as the ship flew along.

"Ah, man, good stuff," Axel muttered. "I think it was food I missed the most, you know? We could kind of fake it, but… there's no _real_ physical sensation in Sora's heart. Good to have the real stuff…"

"Hmm, talking of," Terra said. "Of Sora's heart, that is… I was thinking of the stretches of time…"

Axel eyed him. "Yeah?"

"I can't really explain it," Terra said. "But I feel like, at some point, it must have been about ten years ago… I remember, because Xemnas fell, and then as I was dissolving I could swear I heard the entire universe saying, 'Sora'…"

Axel inhaled sharply. "Yeah… I know exactly what you're talking about."

"But… Sora didn't come, did he?" Terra said. "He wasn't there when I came together today. He wasn't there when you woke up, Ven. Or you, Aqua."

"No… he wasn't," Axel agreed. "Despite promises, he had nothing to do with our rescue whatsoever."

"Hey, guys, don't knock Sora," Roxas said, turning around in the co-pilot seat. "I'll defend him with my last breath, whatever he did or didn't do. I for one am grateful for the refuge."

"Yes," Xion said. "He did everything he could. We can't fault him for that."

I held up my ice cream bar. "How about a toast? To Master Sora."

"Master Sora," everyone else in the Gummi ship said, raising their ice creams.

I looked at Zack. He hadn't moved. Seeing my eyes on him, he said, "What? I've never met the guy."

I laughed. "Oh, just toast."

"All right, all right… to Master Sora," Zack said, grinning.

"Master Sora," Ven repeated, though he had already toasted. "Yeah. We should all honor him deeply."


	19. Everlasting Oaths

**Aqua Mortis**

How y'all doin'? Do pay attention; these last two chapters contain a few things—not a lot, but some—that, I feel, _should_ be tired old Kingdom Hearts fanfic clichés. Alas, they are not. This is because, apparently, it's very easy to forget that the predominant influence in the series is… what was it? Oh, yeah, the Walt Disney Company. Remember the Walt Disney Company? The origin of 90 percent of the series' content? It still exists, you know. Spread the word.

Sorry, I just think it matters. See if I give a tin shilling about Neku or Bat Bat. I want to see Quasimodo, bitches. Oh yeah.

**Everlasting Oaths**

The Gummi ship entered a reddish sky that reflected off an ocean… and as it banked around, a familiar structure came into view.

I jumped excitedly. "That's Yen Sid's tower! Are we going to see Master Yen Sid?"

We bypassed the tower. I blinked, staring around at everyone.

Roxas spun around in the co-pilot chair, looking at me dolefully. "Master Yen Sid died, Aqua," he said. "Years ago."

"What?" I gasped. "What happened?"

"Nothing _happened_," Roxas said. "His life ended, that's all."

My face grew cold and hard as my Keyblade appeared in my hand. "We're living in a golden age of the Keyblade," I said. "Death doesn't have to be permanent."

"Yes, it does," Roxas said gently. "It does if it was that time. Try to see it from Yen Sid's point of view, if you could. When was the last time you saw him?"

"Well, I… I was leaving his tower with Ven's body," I said. "He told me I had to believe, to stay strong, so my friends could come back…"

"Yeah," Roxas said. "But around that time… imagine how wounded he must have been. His former life, the people from his childhood, had crumbled. Eraqus was dead. Dead by the hand of Xehanort, who had already been lost to the darkness… neither of them ever coming back. He would have let himself die earlier, but someone had to watch the tides, didn't they? Once Sora and Riku became Masters, it was… well, it was time."

I blinked away moisture that had appeared in my eyes. "How… how do you know this?"

"I've picked up tidbits…" he replied. "I don't really have any more insight into it than Sora does."

"Though, be sure you have all the facts before you start feeling sorry for Yen Sid," Naminé said. "You see, Sora and Riku allegedly took their Mark of Mastery for the purpose of freeing the seven of us. That was a bluff. Yen Sid told them what they needed to hear. The only purpose was to destroy the Xehanorts."

Ventus frowned. "Xehanorts?"

"But that's over and done," Naminé finished. "We're… well, we're alive _now_. Pulling into the old mansion…"

The ship was slowly lowering itself into the lush back lawn of a huge, well-kept house.

"Um… can we park here?" I asked.

"My name's on the deed, so I should hope so," Naminé replied.

The ship had landed, and its doors opened immediately. The back lawn was elegantly decorated and clearly set up to accommodate large groups, but at present was occupied only by a single woman. Small but full-figured, she wore a tight-fitting black shirt and khaki pants; her hair was short and silvery, and a single sleepy red eye surveyed those of us departing the ship, the other covered by an eyepatch.

Axel jostled his way to the front. "Hey, hot stuff," he called to the woman. "Miss me when I'm gone?"

"Unbearable," she replied tonelessly.

They clasped forearms and then hugged in a fraternal sort of way, then to my surprise he bent down for an unmistakably romantic kiss. That entire gesture spoke volumes of mutual respect and appreciation, equal footing and true love.

Xion turned around to smirk at me. "See? He's a different man."

"Hey! Hey, fellas!" a voice called.

Someone came running around the side of the house—the captain of King Mickey's royal knights. Goofy looked exactly the same as he had twenty years ago, but instead of his knightly vestments wore a more casual, padded vest, pants, and oddly-shaped hat.

Goofy ran up to Roxas and Xion and grabbed their wrists frantically. "Xion, Roxas, have you guys seen Max? Has anybody seen my son?"

Roxas shook his head. "I'm sorry, Goofy, we haven't heard anything."

"Goofy, where'd you go?" someone called. From roughly the same spot where Goofy had come, and with a similar urgency in his step, came the wizard Donald. Like Goofy, he'd foregone his pointed mage's cap for a simpler blue beret.

"Goofy!" Donald said. "I just got a message from Uncle Scrooge. Skye is at Radiant Garden—Max and Webby are with him!"

Goofy sighed with relief, covering his eyes with one hand. "Oh, thank goodness…"

Donald looked past Goofy and made eye contact with me. "Goofy," he whispered. "Look."

Goofy turned around. He and Donald seemed completely entranced as they stepped over to us—the bearded Ven, the white-haired Terra, and me, exactly the same as I had been before.

"Ahyuk, would ya look at that," Goofy said, beaming. "It's like a miracle."

I took a step toward the wizard and knight and held their oversized, four-fingered hands. "Hey, guys," I said. "Yeah, it's… it's good to be back. Who is it you were just looking for?"

"My son Max," Goofy said proudly. "He's a member of the palace guard back home. And Webby is a distant relative of the Duck family; Donald's taken her as his personal apprentice. Those two have been traveling the worlds with Skye, just like me and Don and Sora used to do."

"Yeah, the good old days," Donald said fondly. "Goofy, we should go. Scrooge said there's a situation going on."

"All right," Goofy said. "We'll catch up with everybody later! See ya!"

"Later, Goof," Axel called.

Donald and Goofy ran back around the house and out of sight.

"Did you hear that?" I said. "There's a situation at Radiant Garden. Maybe they need help, we should g… go." The last word was drowned by a yawn I couldn't hold back.

"Aqua, when's the last time you got any sleep?" Zack said seriously.

"Erm… I dunno," I mumbled. "Couple of days? When did we…?"

"You should rest, Aqua," Naminé said. "Pick a bedroom, there are lots of them."

"But Radiant Garden…" I protested.

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing for us to worry about," Naminé said.

"But—"

"Sleep," Naminé said firmly. "Anyone can see that you need it."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I had wandered into the mansion absently, clumsily opening the first door I had come across and then, seeing that it had a bed, collapsed atop it and was asleep before I hit the mattress.

It seemed like a second later that I woke up. My shoes were off and I had been tucked in; Zack was across the small room, sitting in a wooden dining chair.

"Hey," he said.

I smiled at him sleepily. "Hey, Zack… what are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Just thought I'd come in and stare at you for a while."

"Mm, that's more than a little creepy, Zack."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm glad you're here," I said. "Really, I am."

I sat up and looked out the window. The sky looked exactly as it had before, just in the throes of sunset.

"Was I asleep for a whole day?" I muttered. "Why is…?"

"Twilight Town," Zack said simply.

"I… see," I said. I smiled. "But really, Zack… thank you for being here for me."

"Eh, it's no trouble." He inspected me, suddenly concerned. "So, Aqua… you've found what you were looking for. Do you still… need me?"

"Need you?" I said. "Of course I need you, Zack. You healed my heart. You're part of me. You must know that… don't you?"

"Wanted to make sure," he said quietly. "Because, well… you know I love you, Aqua?"

"Mm," I said, nodding. "I do know… and I love _you_." I augmented the last word with magic, so the chair Zack was sitting in was pulled across the floor toward me. I wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled him within kissing range. And from there, well… bliss.

"Take me, Zack," I whispered.

"'Take' you?" he said, amused. "That's a weighty request. Puts a lot of pressure on _me_, doesn't it? I don't know if I can live up to your expectations, there."

I had already started taking off my clothes. "I have complete faith that you can."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It occurred to me during the passion that Zack was a very, _very_ competent lover. Our second time, I could fully detect how all of the immense strength and honor that he brought to the battlefield translated well into vigor and respect in bed…

Perhaps I was overthinking it. But one thing was clear, and that was that Zack knew his way around me, and needed no guidance. I wondered how often… but it didn't matter. My contact with his heart left no doubt—I was it for him, just as he was for me.

And as we finished, lights flashed before my eyes and I could see all the worlds, the way they moved together and fit in harmony… and where I belonged in them, what I was for. It was clear, and I was truly at peace.

Afterwards, I coiled myself around Zack, making as much physical contact with him as humanly possible. My face was near his jaw and neck area, and I kissed him whenever I didn't need to stop and breathe…

"Mm, Aqua," he said, his chest heaving.

I frowned. "Zack, you're crying again… are you…? Will that happen every time we have sex?" I made an effort to keep the question from sounding judgmental… it was, after all, only a question.

"I hope not," he said grimly. "It's not… it's not what I expect, from… from…"

"I like it," I said honestly. "It's a small side of you that's only for me."

He kissed my forehead. "There's a good spin on it," he said.

I contented myself with sitting motionless, and listening to Zack's pulse. After a few minutes, he started humming, then singing outright under his breath. To my surprise, it was a song that I knew, somewhere in the memory of my early life.

"Simple and clean," I whispered.

He smiled at me.

"…way that you're making me feel… tonight…" I mumbled.

"Hard to let go," Zack finished. "So… _do_ I make you feel simple and clean?"

"Yeah," I said. "You certainly do."

From out the window, I heard an exuberant voice yell "DINNERTIME!" What killed me was that I had no clue whether it was Ventus or Roxas. But in another second, it didn't matter, because it became apparent that both of them were yelling "DINNERTIME!" at the top of their lungs in various cadences and octaves, ending the recitation by saying it in perfect unison at dramatically different pitches.

Zack and I stared at each other and broke out laughing.

"They've learned to harmonize," I said.

"Pretty damn good at it, I'd say," he agreed.

"We should get up," I said. "I… I'll at least drop in on everyone. I'm in no state for dinner…"

Zack and I got dressed and went out into the hallway. Out the windows, I saw everyone gathered around in the backyard, passing around plates of food.

"Hey, everybody," Zack said. "Hook me up with some of that—hey, Terra, I like the makeover."

I looked to Terra. He had thrown off the lab coat he had been reborn in, and had also cut his hair. While still white, it looked like it had when we were young… so, if anything, he looked like the Xehanort I had faced just before I became lost.

No… he looked better. Sincere and loyal… the real Terra.

"Yeah, thanks," Terra said, running a hand over his hair. "Fuu did it. For a full-time gangster, she gives a good haircut."

"Undercover," Axel's girlfriend corrected.

"Sorry… full-time _undercover_ gangster," Terra amended, grinning. "And, um…"

"Fujin," the woman said suddenly.

"Really? Because everyone calls you—"

"Fujin," she said, her eye glinting dangerously.

"All right… Fujin then," Terra said with unease. "Aqua… won't you be joining us?"

I shook my head. "I couldn't eat dinner now… I think I'm just going to have a shower. Where do I go?"

Naminé gave me directions, and I retreated into the mansion, watching all my friends enjoy themselves at dinner and conversation.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Getting myself to feel truly clean had taken the better part of an hour. My hair wet and my shoes held in one hand, I started down the stairs when I heard a conversation that halted me in my tracks.

"Hey, Terra," Zack was saying. "Listen, I've been stalling on this, but… I just want to talk to you about Aqua. You're her family, right? It's just, I've been traveling with her, and… I want her hand. And I want your blessing."

There was silence for a moment, and I wondered if Zack was actually talking only to himself. Then Terra replied. "You don't need my blessing to be with Aqua, Zack."

"Well, maybe not," Zack said. "I want it, though. I know we only met once before, but you've been my idol ever since. And, well, I'm going to be with Aqua forever anyway. Best thing I could imagine. But if you'd support me—well, that'd make it all the sweeter."

Terra didn't answer for a few more seconds. "Well, you're right about me being her family," he said. "Ordinarily, I'd tell you not to hurt her, or I'll hunt you down and kill you for hurting my sister… but, Aqua's hardly ordinary. On the off-chance you did hurt her, I imagine she'd do the hunting all by herself."

"Yeah, and she'd find me too," Zack said with a humorous shudder. "Because she never gives up, not on anything. That's why I love her. She's… extraordinary."

I finished descending the stairs, deciding it was time to make my presence known. "You're not so bad yourself, hero," I said.

Zack jumped in alarm, but Terra only gave a slight smile. He'd known I was there from the get-go.

"You know, Zack," I said, "when I've traveled the worlds, I've been able to witness a good amount of fairytale love… it never occurred to me once that I could actually experience it. But I have. You're here, you're my hero, and I love you so much…" I tugged him into a warm embrace. "Proposal accepted… if you intend on proposing."

He shrugged. "You know me, I'm an adventurer. I don't have any property or estate… so, I was gonna hold back on the proposal until I could get my hands on a ring. I don't have anything to offer you, nothing to give by way of… you know."

"Just give me you," I said.

"Yeah? That'll be enough for you?" Zack said, grinning.

"Well, it's beyond my wildest dreams, so… yeah. I'd say it's 'enough'."

"All right, is everybody ready?" came a call from the front doors. Axel and Fujin stepped in, Axel with his two weapons and Fujin with a single, blue chakram that she fingered eagerly.

"Ready?" I repeated.

"You wanted to check out the situation at Radiant Garden, right?" Axel said. "Well, we're checking it out. Got it memorized?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

Interesting piece of trivia: when I first came up with Axel/Fujin, I had absolutely no idea that Fujin wields a chakram. Young Fuu, after all, possesses no weapon at all. So I looked up a few characters on the Final Fantasy wiki, just to see how best to write their ten-years-older selves. Once I found out, I was thrilled by the coincidence, all "call me a matchmaker!" and I became _extremely_ invested in that relationship… in an eventual spin-off from KHNG, I'll explore that relationship and others more fully.

And we bring on the finale!


	20. It Is Written

**Aqua Mortis**

All right, final chapter. Hope it's epic enough.

Production on _Kingdom __Hearts: __The __Next __Generation_ shall begin promptly. See you there. You, and some other people, hopefully.

**It Is Written**

Our party, with one added to our ranks, boarded our ship and blasted off into Twilight Town's sky. Soon, we were cruising once again through the stars… once a thrilling experience, nowadays mundane and ordinary.

"All right, we'll be there in just a couple of minutes," Roxas reported.

"Naminé," Xion said.

Naminé looked over her shoulder.

"I know you hate being left behind," Xion said respectfully. "So… while we're flying, you should try again. Try to use the Keyblade."

Naminé sighed. "You know I can't do it."

"Actually, I _don__'__t_ know that," Xion said. "If Kairi can pass her Mark of Mastery, you can hold the weapon in your hand. You _are_ Kairi, after all."

"I know who I am," Naminé said, irritated. "But I'm… separate. Incomplete. I don't have what it takes to produce the key. I don't have the heart strength."

I took a moment to inspect Naminé's heart… she was mistaken. Her heart, like the other ex-Nobodies, was fragmented, but it did contain residual pieces of Kairi's pure light. But the Keyblade was blocked from her, somehow…

Axel snapped his fingers. "I got this," he said. "Naminé, close your eyes."

"Um… what?" Naminé said carefully.

"Trust me, Nami?"

"Of course. I've always trusted you."

"I've got this figured out," Axel said.

"Okay." Naminé closed her eyes tightly. Roxas was now piloting the craft by himself, and didn't notice as Axel crept up behind him and produced a chakram. He held it high up, then slammed it toward Roxas's head in a guaranteed killing blow.

Naminé's hand shot out and produced a Keyblade with a thick black blade and a purple-and-yellow guard, parrying the vicious point just before it pierced Roxas' skull… and _then_ she opened her eyes.

"Wha…?" Naminé gasped, as the blade in her hand vanished.

"Lunar Eclipse," Axel commented. "Legendary. See? Told you I could get it out of you."

Naminé conjured her new Keyblade again, then made it dissipate, and called it again, reveling in its every appearance.

"Good work," Roxas whispered to her. "Fantastic."

"So, what do I do now?" Naminé asked.

"Let it guide you," Xion said. "I suggest that for today, you keep to the back, and let others protect you… but until you've learned how to better handle the Keyblade, it will keep you safe. Just keep your stance and posture—your heart will do the rest."

"Right," Naminé said. "So… by posture, do you mean 'Aqua' posture, or a normal human sort of posture?"

"Eh, the second one," Xion said, shooting me a glance. "But if you can manage to hold onto Aqua posture, by all means…"

I blinked. "What exactly does that mean, 'Aqua posture'?"

"Also legendary," Axel mused.

"Well, you know… it's not a bad thing," Xion said hurriedly. "I… I understand. If I had breasts like that, I'd be waving them around too."

I realized I was self-consciously slouching, and my spine was already starting to hurt. "I… I don't… Guys?" I turned to my brothers for aid, and saw each of them glance downward briefly before looking again at my face.

"So… you _don__'__t_ do the boob thing on purpose?" Ven said.

"I find that hard to believe," Terra said. "I assumed you meant it to be a conversation piece at some point."

"Yeah, 'cause it's… not exactly a _normal_ way to stand…" Ven murmured.

"And it can't possibly be helpful during a combat situation," Terra added. "Little or no way to defend yourself…"

I raised an eyebrow at them and straightened my back. "Oh, now you guys have a problem with my combat style? Of the three of us, who became Keyblade Master _without_ dying first?"

Ven and Terra glanced at each other.

"Stand however you want," Terra mumbled.

"Yeah, go nuts," Ven said, averting his eyes.

"Good," I said, satisfied. "Now… let's never broach the subject again, okay? Of my body or my posture? Can we all agree on that?" I leaned back in my seat, thoroughly humiliated despite the minor conversational victory. "Except you, Zack," I added. "You're at perfect liberty to talk about… your personal property."

Zack clicked his tongue and winked. "As I'm yours, Master Aqua."

Axel gazed out the craft's windows. "Hmm… well, if Heartless were susceptible to the powers of banter, I'd say we've got nothing to worry about. But…"

Everyone followed his gaze. We had entered Radiant Garden's world, and were heading for the gate that would take us into the city to the outer gardens. The city boundaries were swarming, with the vicious Heartless, the shifty lesser Nobodies, and, spaced throughout the ranks of this army, those awful Midghosts.

"Black stars," Terra muttered, a Keyblade wielder's curse if there ever was one.

Axel idly twirled his chakrams in his hands. "Black stars indeed. On the other hand… it's nice to be needed. Take us down, Né."

"You don't have to tell me," Naminé muttered, setting the craft to the ground almost the instant it cleared the gates.

Axel stood up and quickly wrapped himself in a black cloak and hood, concealing every feature of his identity.

"What's up with that?" Roxas said, alarmed.

"A personal precautionary measure, don't worry your little golden head about it," Axel said in a clipped sort of way. "Now let's get out there and damn well do this."

He practically kicked down the Gummi ship's door, and charged out into the midst of the assorted creatures of darkness.

The borders of Radiant Garden's outer gardens were protected only by a single gate, the rest of the area blocked off only by the ocean. A vast number of Heartless, Nobodies, and Midghosts were crowded around the cobblestone path just outside the city's boundaries. A few of the monsters were forcing their way around the gate, others climbing over it, but for the most part, they were gliding toward the city across the ocean.

I inhaled deeply, preparing to lose myself to my instincts. Soon, the only things in existence were my enemies. At the sight of a single scurrying shadow, I'd bound forward and eliminate it utterly. Any of the creatures within five feet of my target didn't often fare well either.

My eyes went wide and my rationality returned when the monsters finally managed to break open the gate. They came pouring in, and I leapt at them, smashing them under my feet, bashing with my elbows, and keeping my Keyblade in constant motion.

I _was_ the battle's front line, and I didn't let a single Heartless or Nobody escape my line of vision alive. A few minutes passed… then _many_ minutes. Then their commanders, the Midghosts, began to descend. From their holding pattern high above the outer gardens, they glided swiftly to the entrance of the city proper…

"Get them!" I yelled, the first words spoken in the entire battle. Our group of nine tried to chase them, dodging chaotically in many directions around the fountains and flowerbeds until we got a clear shot.

But the Midghosts were too fast. We wouldn't catch them before they got in…

Then, two huge monsters jumped from their concealment behind the garden's topiaries and pummeled the Midghosts into bloody stains on the cobblestones.

I halted in my tracks to consider these creatures. One was seven feet tall and covered in shaggy brown fur, with a massive head twice the size of its torso and a vicious, toothy underbite. The other was nine feet tall, rotund and blue-furred, with droopy eyes, stubby legs but gangly arms, and a forward-swept crest on top of its head.

The brown monster wielded a wooden club, the blue one a trident, and they were both dressed in navy blue uniforms, white gloves, and black boots, marked in specific spots with a symbol like an elongated heart. Radiant Garden palace guard uniforms?

Terra hadn't paused even for a second. He gripped his Keyblade in both hands and muttered, "What kind of beasts are these…?"

"Beasts?" the brown monster bellowed. "We're not beasts! I'm Sweetums, he's Thog. We're Muppets!"

"Muppets?" I repeated, wracking my brain for the vaguely familiar word. "…Oh! Like Master Kermit!"

"Yeah!" Sweetums said, nodding. "Kermit deported us to Radiant Garden years ago. We've got important jobs here!"

"Have you seen Kermit recently?" Thog asked in a dry, guttural voice.

"No…" I said. "Anyone?"

"Oh, it's probably all right," Thog said. "He's always off doing something or another."

"Yeah," Sweetums grunted. "Sometimes I miss old Muppet Towers, though…"

Someone stepped out of the entryway. The feminine figure was dressed in a suit of pink leather armor, including a cowl over her face, and carried a long metal rod.

"Hmm, I see our visitors have handled the situation at the back door," she said. "So, gentlemen, you're needed back at the central square."

Sweetums saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" He and Thog bounded into the city entrance, and the cowled woman approached us.

"Thank you all," she said. "As you've seen, our circumstances are less than fortunate right now. Any help you can offer, don't hesitate to make yourself useful in the battle within our walls."

"Aerith Gainsborough," Zack said suddenly. "Is that you?"

The woman straightened in surprise, then lowered her hood, revealing dark green eyes and braided brown hair decorated with a large red bow. "Who—Zack?" she said. "Where in Kingdom Hearts have _you_ been? You disappeared thirteen years ago. Everyone thought you were dead."

"Wouldn't you know it, I _was_," Zack said. "But I got better. They haven't built the Underworld that can hold me."

This was news to me, and to Aerith as well, evidently.

"What?" Zack said, smirking. "It's a standard hero routine, escaping from Hell. Quit gaping, isn't there a battle in this town we have to do something about?"

Aerith nodded. "Yes… if you would all come with me."

She turned on her heel and led us through the passageway to the main city. "But, truly, it's wonderful to see you again, Zack," Aerith said, walking alongside him. "A good surprise in a day full of rather poor ones… so. Whose heart are you jerking around these days?"

"Oh, that would be _her_," Zack said, pointing me out.

Aerith looked me over. "Hmm… the legendary Master Aqua. Lost twenty years and then recovered…"

"Also my fiancée," Zack said, nodding.

"Hmm… nicely done," Aerith said.

"So—what do we need to know about old Radiant Garden?" Zack asked, pounding his fist into his palm.

"Well, some time ago the whole city fell to darkness," Aerith said. "They called it Hollow Bastion… but as you can see, it's been fully refurbished. Do you remember Squall Leonhart? He's the new ruler of the city. We're married."

"Well, double good fortunes to young Squall," Zack said. "I'll have to catch up with him once this is all over…"

"Beyond that, the city's exactly as you remember it," Aerith said. "If you're hunting creatures of darkness, there's no shortage anywhere—take to the streets, spread out as far as you can."

"Gotcha," I said.

Aerith smiled. "You know, I'll never forget the last time I saw Zack. Seemed like an ordinary day, and then out of the blue, I hear 'How about one date?'"

"Uh-oh," Zack muttered.

"That's… that's the line he used on me," I said.

"Hey, I go with what works," Zack said, holding his hands up in protest. "Worked on _you_, didn't it? I give you that line, and twenty years later, here we are, practically engaged."

I laughed along with some others in our party. Once again, I had to remind myself not to fault Zack for having had a life during the twenty years I was in the Realm of Darkness. I'd soon become accustomed to it, and in the meantime _our_ life together was just beginning.

Even as we approached the dual staircases perpendicular to our path and leading to the central square, a group of small Heartless were dropping into the stairwell and hobbling toward us. They were pursued by a familiar bespectacled and white-bearded wizard, who pelted them with fireballs, and quickly pressed back-to-back with a man dressed in a lion-hide cloak, with straight brown hair and a short sword shaped vaguely like a handgun.

"Ah, Leon, my dear boy," Merlin said, straightening his glasses. "Why is it _always_ Radiant Garden?"

"How the hell do I know?" Leon muttered. They shot off in opposite directions, up the stairs.

Aerith and our little band of reinforcements broke into two groups as well, ascending the stairs.

Large and small Heartless swarmed the edges of the central square, but a small number of combatants—Merlin and Leon, Sweetums and Thog—were quite thoroughly exterminating them. In the very center, a single woman, dressed all in black, with short black hair, and wielding an enormous four-pointed metal star was struggling to hold her own against the beasts.

Axel tossed a chakram, which whirled in an arc to take out most of those in the square. The woman nodded thanks to him absently, and beat the temporarily distracted Heartless into the ground.

Our troupe made short work of the Heartless in the central square, and a few of the Radiant Garden residents rushed off to clear the different areas of town. Axel, still shrouded, tried to sneak off, but the star-wielding woman grabbed him suddenly.

"Axel?" she said coldly.

"Oh, hell," he muttered.

She ripped his cloak from his shoulders. "You think you can just show your face in Radiant Garden?" she demanded.

"I was trying to hide my face under a hood, actually," Axel said dryly.

"And you have the gall to make jokes," the woman growled.

"Listen, Yuffie—"

"I… I…" she stammered furiously, "I _will_ kill you. _Kill_ you. WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

Axel spun to face her, bringing his chakrams to bear. "You wanna know why I'm here? 'Cause I had a choice. I could have hidden from my recent misdeeds, sure… or I could have actually made an effort to put some good back out into the worlds. So, how about you turn that fine shuriken of yours against the _real_ bad guys, and let me go about my business?"

Yuffie scowled and lowered her weapon. "If you touch me again…" she fumed. "And if you even _look_ at anyone I care about… I will fight you to the death. To—the—death."

"Understood," Axel sneered.

Yuffie jumped to the top of a nearby building and bolted into the distance.

"Eh, that was better than I deserved," Axel said earnestly, scratching the back of his neck. "Wish I could have been nicer to her, but _that_ would have just creeped her out…"

"What the hell did you _do_ last month?" Roxas demanded.

"Look, I was going through a hard time, all right?" Axel snapped. "My beliefs were all screwed up. I'm not… I'm never going to be _proud_ of all this, okay? I'm trying to work past it. Get it… well, this doesn't warrant a 'Get it memorized', more of a… 'Forget I said anything'. Let's go with that. Forget I said anything. Come on, we've got a city to clean."

Axel vanished in a burst of flames, reappearing on the other side of the square and ducking into an alleyway.

Above our heads, three angular black shapes hovered into the square and began to reassemble themselves…

"Hey," Ventus hissed. "We know those dudes."

"Are those Unversed?" Terra gaped.

"Vanitas has been here?" I demanded.

"He's _still_ here," Ven said. "I've always had a sense of where to find him… hmm, this explains why I was feeling so maniacal an hour or so ago. He's enjoying himself, being in the city of light again…"

The Trinity Armor had fully formed, and was staring us down. I had the oddest intuition that it recognized us…

"Apparently, we're destroying this one _again_," Terra said. "Vanitas should have more imagination. I'll open."

Terra raised his Keyblade, and a huge shard of stone rose out of the tile floors directly beneath the giant Unversed, spearing all three of its parts.

"Good move," Ven said. "I'll raise you."

From the sky directly above the monstrosity, a funnel cloud appeared and dipped down, tearing chunks out of Terra's rock and damaging the Trinity Armor's exterior further.

"Well, Aqua?" Terra said. "Care to finish him off?"

"Hmm, okay," I said. I produced five or six enormous orbs of light, and fired them at the armor—all three pieces disintegrated.

Ventus pumped his fists. "Yes! Now, let's cut those Unversed off at the source."

"You mean Vanitas?" Terra said sharply. "Ven, you know we can't kill him. _You_ especially can't kill him."

"You _can_," Ventus said evasively. "Though I see why you wouldn't want to… how about this. We find some way to capture and imprison him. His threat will be over, you guys get to keep _me_, and…" Ven's scarred face broke into a wild grin. "He'll suffer. Like other people do at his hands. We've got to make sure of _that_."

I stood there in awe of Ven's conviction. "Well spoken," I said.

At some point, Roxas and the others had seen fit to make themselves useful elsewhere; only Terra, Ven, and I remained, along with Zack, standing some distance away and looking unsure of what to do with himself.

And two others staggering into the square from the direction of the castle; a red-eyed brunette woman and a spiky-haired blond man, both clad in black and badly wounded, holding each other upright mutually. The man held an enormous sword wrapped in strips of fabric; the woman appeared unarmed, though her knuckles were soaked in blood.

"Hey," the woman said. "Terra, Ventus, and Aqua?"

"Yes," I said quickly.

"Master Sora is up at the castle doors," she said. "He wants to see the three of you."

"Wha—how does he know we're here?" I gasped, alarmed.

The man lifted his head with some effort. "Does it matter? The city is under siege, the _worlds_ are under siege, and the greatest of the Keyblade Masters is asking for you. You should probably go to him."

"Probably," Terra agreed. "Let's go."

Ven followed Terra, and I turned to Zack. "Zack, you should go off into the city," I said. "See where you're needed… the three of us can manage without you."

Zack nodded. "I figured. I'll catch you later."

"Good. I love you."

"Love you, Aqua."

I darted after Ven and Terra. We wove our way through the gardens along the path to the castle. Halfway up the first staircase, we heard a scream of rage, and a huge chunk of stone was blown off of one of the castle walls.

Riku stood there, his body sizzling with darkness, his face contorted in rage.

"Riku?" Terra breathed.

Riku shook out his hair so his face was once again concealed, his darkness faded and he approached. "Hey. Sorry about that—Maleficent just got away from me again."

"Maleficent?" I breathed.

"Yeah, she's pretty much my personal demon," Riku said bitterly. "Been playing this game for ten years and I can never catch her… anyway, how are you guys?" A toothy smile peered out from behind the curtains of hair. "How are _you_ doing, Terra?"

"I'm… well, I'm better than I've been in a very long time," Terra said.

"So I see," Riku said. "It's not easy, what we do… being men of the Between. Keeping a grip on the darkness without allowing it to rule, without losing our notion of what's precious. My student, Lando… he's discovering this for himself. He's following in my footsteps and yours, treading that dangerous path. I fear for him, sometimes… I wonder if he can survive the ordeal."

"Well… I did," Terra said. "You certainly seem like you're thriving. If your student walks the same path as you, I'd say that's a good sign."

"Yeah… yeah," Riku agreed. "But you and I? We had friends, beacons of light… those we couldn't bear to see harmed. I'm not sure if Lando has that particular advantage."

"He must," I whispered.

"He must. Yeah. Doesn't mean he _does_."

The three of us and Riku stood in silence for a moment. Hoping to elevate the mood, I tried to recall the name of the beautiful woman from the island, who had held onto Riku's every word just as she did to his arm…

"So… where's Selphie?" I said, trying to sound cheerful.

One of Riku's eyes snuck out from behind his sheet of hair and looked at me condescendingly. "Selphie," he said calmly, "is a Destiny Islands honor guard. She's on Destiny Islands."

"Doesn't she travel the worlds with you?" I wondered.

"No," he said. "It doesn't work that way."

"Are you… but aren't you still with her?" I said. "Doesn't she care about what you do?"

"Yeah, she cares," Riku said dispassionately. "That's exactly the problem. She's determined to stay by my side at all times… but isn't it hard enough to see Sora and Kairi out in the thick of things, to see their pain and struggle? I have enough on my plate with the risk of seeing my best friends die at any moment… I'm not letting that happen to the woman I love."

Ven bowed his head. "Mm… You know, I'm no expert, but it seems to me that when you love someone, there's nothing more detrimental than to care _too_ much."

Riku nodded. "Yeah, but everything she does is done out of sentiment, I can't really—"

"I meant _you_, dude," Ven interrupted.

Riku paused, swaying on the spot. "Hmm… well. Well. I see. You've certainly given me something to think about. Never a shortage of _those_ in this life, is there?"

"Damn straight," Ven replied.

From a higher level of the gardens came an incomprehensible shout of anger, just before Donald rounded a bend.

"Riku!" he roared. "What is _wrong_ with you? Quit straggling, you… straggler!"

"Sorry," Riku called. "I'll be right with you."

Goofy appeared just behind Donald. "Hey, Donald… Josie and Poncho are ready for you. I think you oughta hurry up."

Donald rolled his eyes. "José and Panchito, you big… never mind. Let's go!"

Donald and Goofy disappeared. Riku turned to Ven, Terra, and me and smirked. "Join me at the castle doors, won't you? You'll want to see this."

"See what?" I asked.

Riku led us up the garden stairs. "Well… it's important to note that the worlds are bigger than most people acknowledge. Radiant Garden isn't a world; it's a city. You go out the front gates, it doesn't _end_; there's still a lot of world to cross before it gives way to another, by sky or by sea… a few years ago, Donald took just such a voyage across his own world. He met kindred spirits, two fellow magi from other kingdoms. The three taught each other new magical arts… and the power they acquired… well, it's something that everyone deserves to see at least a couple of times."

"Um… Sora was asking for us," I mumbled.

"I know. This won't take long."

On the landing just beneath the castle entrance, Donald was standing with two figures who bore a distinct resemblance to him, diminutive and vaguely avian in appearance. Before I could get a good look at them, Riku tugged on me and guided us all up the stairs.

"We'll want a good vantage point," he explained.

Goofy was already standing at the top of the stairs, looking just as eager as Riku was. Once at the top, we turned around and could indeed see all of Radiant Garden laid out before us… and the many Heartless battles still being fought.

"We need to—"

"Shh," Riku said gently. "They'll handle this."

Several Heartless were clambering over the gates on the opposite side of the landing, and Donald faced them.

"Heartless," he sneered. "Damned Heartless. If you had any thoughts, you'd be running away… you'd know you're looking at Donald Duck—_El __Archimago __Enojado_!"

One of Donald's two companions slid up to him. He had pale green feathers and the hooked beak of a parrot. He was dressed in a billowy gray robe, with a tasseled fez atop his head. From within the folds of his robe, he produced a stiletto, which he held backhand.

"You also face José Carioca—_El __Místico __Refinado_," this person said in a rich, delicate accent.

Finally, the third birdlike man stepped up… his feathers were a garish red, his beak broad and pointy. He had voluminous tail feathers, and wore a wide-brimmed, floppy wizard's cap and a flowing, multicolored robe. He produced a pair of small, handheld guns.

"And I," he declared loudly, "am Panchito Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero Gonzales, a.k.a. Panchito Pistoles—_El __Brujo __Loco_! Ah-hahahahahah!"

And the three of them broke out into a dance that I could only assume, and hope, was for ritualistic magical purposes. I turned to Riku for confirmation, which he seemed to have been expecting.

"The 'Angry Archmage', 'Refined Mystic', and 'Crazy Warlock', if I'm not mistaken," he said. "The melodrama is a crucial part of it. When united, they're—well, just watch."

Panchito pointed one of his guns straight into the sky. "Fire!" he cried.

Donald raised his staff over his head. "Blizzard!"

José adjusted his grip on his stiletto, so its pommel faced upward. "Thunder!"

The three elements combined, and hung in the air as a single, menacing orb for a few seconds… before this eccentric trio slammed their weapons against the ground and yelled in unison, "_THREE __CABALLEROS!_"

A burst of pure energy exploded from them, coming up the stairs toward us as well as in every other direction, its sheer power flooding the entire city.

In the distance, I saw waves of Heartless utterly destroyed, while the people who fought them were spared, and left unharmed… indeed, the caballeros' energy seemed to heal and rejuvenate the people of the city. As the waves washed over me, I too felt like a completely new, healthy person.

Riku grinned. "Worth your time?"

"…Yes," Terra said, stunned.

"Now _that__'__s _magic," Ven said.

"Yep," Riku said, nodding. "Not something they can do every day; consider yourselves privileged to witness it."

Donald, José, and Panchito had all dropped to their knees, huffing and panting.

"Wouldn't have been worth it if we're late for Sora," I said anxiously. "He needs us. Where is he?"

"You'll find him in the castle's reactor," Riku said. "There's no rush… the caballeros cleared the city completely. Radiant Garden's as safe a place as you'll find in the Realm of Light."

Ventus drummed his fingers on his breastbone. "Not _quite_ safe yet," he muttered.

"Vanitas?" Terra asked.

"He's still here," Ven said. "He's… he's in the reactor. Let's go!"

Side by side, the three of us went back to the gardens, through a side door to a platform overlooking the reactor. Sora was standing on the platform, waiting patiently for us.

"Masters," he said, inclining his head. "Donald and Goofy told me they'd seen you." He tapped his heart. "I felt Roxas turn up and figured he wouldn't come without you. So, if you're freaking out because I knew you were here… that's why. I'm not 'all that'." He smirked.

"It's fine. What's…" I trailed off, looking down into the reactor itself, the place where Ventus, Terra, and I had faced the Trinity Armor the first time.

Down there was a flurry of activity, and it took a moment to make sense of it. Finally, I recognized the three apprentices—the first one I spotted was Oceana, as I had faced her in combat; I distinctly noticed her hit-and-run tactics, the way her feet either never left the ground or never touched it. Then I saw Lando, his dual mini-Keyblades working in a frenzy around his body, and Skye, swinging his oversized blade with fantastic force and velocity.

Off to Skye's side was someone who could only be Goofy's son. Max was just as tall as his father, but with a smoother and shorter face and a wild hairstyle. His weapon was a lightweight lance, of the sort used in jousting, but he wielded it as easily as a rapier. In seemingly meaningless patterns, he would switch the lance from one hand to the other and twirl it around, behind his back—the pattern could be detected in his feet, the way he positioned himself so his random strikes would connect.

Farther back was Donald's niece, Webby. She was tiny, and dressed in pink robes styled to resemble a tutu. She was unarmed apart from a pale red crystal through which she channeled her magic, and strapped to her back was a doll that resembled her.

Harder to spot were those that these five were fighting. One was an older boy, jumping around erratically and striking with his hands on fire. He was dressed in a crisp black suit, his skin was olive-toned and his eyes icy blue. His hair was black and in a common spiked style, easily compared to Axel's or Zack's hair… until I noticed that its movements had to do with more than just the wind. His hair flickered and coiled as if it had a mind and muscles of its own.

And the girl. She was dressed in white lace, and her steel-gray hair was bound far above her head before being released into loose curls around her shoulders. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were a solid mass of pink, with no whites or pupils. Unlike her companion, she seemed never to move at all, except to teleport a small distance away when attacked directly.

And this entire battlefield was surrounded by a ring of darkness, fueled by the wraith of Vanitas, who revolved around the seven combatants in a defensive stance.

"What's happening?" I asked Sora.

"Well, Vanitas has fallen in with a new crowd," Sora said. "The boy is Xefrii, the girl is Ciexu. That's pretty much all I know… but they're trying to access Kingdom Hearts to resurrect some sort of dark master. Someone who, apparently, can't be brought back by more traditional dark methods. Guy named Lightan Primordialis. Mean anything to you?"

I shook my head; Ven and Terra did the same.

"Hmm… I didn't think so," Sora muttered. "I've had a hunch that this is a _new_ scheme of events, unrelated to anybody's past. Except maybe… theirs." He gestured vaguely to Skye, Lando, and Oceana.

"Pity Xefrii and Ciexu, then," I said. "Because they're the ones getting scammed."

"How's that?" Sora said, interested.

Ven caught was I was saying. "Vanitas is a being of the _purest_ darkness; there's nothing else like him. He's never had an agenda; I doubt he's interested in resurrecting anybody, no matter how dark that person might be."

I nodded. "He told me himself—his goal is to destroy _everything_, all of existence."

"Yeah, I'm taking him at his word on that one," Ven said.

Abruptly, Vanitas was standing on the platform with us, facing Ven. "Ah, Ventus," he drawled. "I've been waiting for you—wanna ignite the Keyblade War?" He pressed his Keyblade to Ven's throat.

"Not in a million years, brother," Ven said cheerfully.

Vanitas pressed his Keyblade upward into Ven's chin, but Ven didn't flinch. "Go ahead, kill me," he said. "But overpowering me isn't _clashing_ with me; you'll destroy the both of us and leave your plans unfinished."

Vanitas stepped back. "Well, you haven't changed," he said. "Still naïve and foolish, clinging fiercely to light even though you know it's weak."

"Thank you," Ven said graciously. "You're short, and rather scrawny, yourself. And your darkness is going to atrophy until you become even _more_ of an empty shell than you are right now."

Vanitas growled and flipped off the platform, nabbing Xefrii and Ciexu by the back of their shirts and vanishing quickly into a dark corridor.

"No!" Skye roared. "No! Don't leave! WHO ARE YOU GUYS? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

Max touched Skye's shoulder, and the boy quickly relaxed, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

Sora tapped me. "You three get down there. Your wisdom would be appreciated."

I nodded, and jumped down into the reactor. Ven and Terra followed me, and Lando was the first to spot us.

"Master Terra," he whispered, rushing forward.

Terra held up a hand, stopping Lando in his tracks. "Don't call me that," he said. "The last person who called me that betrayed me and murdered my father. Sensitive subject, you'll understand."

Lando bowed his head. "Of course. I… I only wanted to know…" He stared hard at Terra with those narrow green eyes. "What do you do when the darkness in your heart is consuming you? How do you keep from getting swallowed completely by it? From giving in?"

Terra exhaled through his nose, thinking about it. "Haven't you spoken to Master Riku about this?"

"Of course," Lando said. "But I need _more_… more help. I'm scared, Terra. I feel like I'm dangerous."

"So, you want to monitor your darkness," Terra muttered. He clutched Lando's shoulder. "You just have to swing with it, kid. Maybe a person who controls darkness is what you are—but don't let it define _who_ you are. Don't lose sight of what's really important. What _truly_ matters to you?"

"Well, that'd be…" Lando muttered, turning around to see Oceana and Skye.

"Skye, I… thank you," Oceana was saying, her eyes on her shoes. "Can you… can you forgive me, for the… horrible, stupid things I've done?"

Lando stepped up to Skye as well. "Yeah, and while we're at it, can I just say I'm sorry for… for everything that's gone down, that 'horrible' and 'stupid' don't even begin to cover?"

Skye smiled at them. "Of course I forgive you. It's _you __guys_." He hugged the two taller teens tightly.

"I owe you, little man," Lando said.

Lando stepped back, but Oceana whispered something in Skye's ear. A smile broadened across his face.

Lando was looking at the spot where Vanitas, Xefrii, and Ciexu had vanished. "We need to go after them," he said. "We have to find out what they're trying to do… why they need _us_."

"We're with you, Lando," Oceana said. "Always."

"Forever," Skye agreed. "Max, Webby? You guys in?"

Max twirled his lance. "Behind you all the way, my good man," he said.

Webby, who barely came up to Skye's knees, hugged one of his legs. "You're our best friend, after all," she squeaked.

"If that's settled, I'll get the Gummi pods," Max said. He produced a small remote control device and clicked it.

Seconds later, two bubble-topped Gummi ships, only large enough to seat one, dropped down to hover at Max's side. Max and Webby clambered in, while Skye, Oceana, and Lando summoned their gliders and armor.

A portal opened above, and the five children in their crafts jetted away.

"Aqua!" came a call. Zack ran out into the center of the reactor, and I scooped him up, placing my head on his collarbone.

"What's… what happened?" Zack asked.

Sora dropped into the reactor, and Donald and Goofy joined him, flanking him like bodyguards in a manner that was clearly comfortable and familiar to all three of them.

"They're leavin' again?" Goofy said.

"Oh," Donald said sadly.

"They have a journey to complete, you guys have known that since the beginning," Sora said, comforting them. "They'll be all right."

"Maybe we should follow them," Ventus offered.

"You think?" Terra said seriously.

"No," I said, reaching for their hands. "We've done as much as we can here. Our quest is done. This is _their_ story now."

_**fin**_


End file.
